Portal - ShadAmy
by zketcherz
Summary: Amy takes up lessons with Shadow on how to use a Chaos Emerald. But when the lesson goes wrong, Amy discovers a world, or rather time, that she wishes she hadn't. [Apparently there was a glitch that slipped past my eyes when posting chapter 9 TvT I have fixed it now! It should be back to normal! I apologize for the crazy jumble of letters in Chapter 9 XD]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It started just like any other day. I woke up from a good night's sleep and sat up in my bed. I stretched out my arms and legs, scrunching my nose as I did, and emitted an enormous yawn. Life was about the same as it had always been. It would be peaceful for a while, then the "great and powerful" Eggman would try to take over the world, and of course we would be there to stop him.

Although all of us played our part in saving the world, Sonic was the one who shined the most out of the group. His dazzling charm, wit, courage, and of course speed was what seperated Sonic from "Sonic Team". Of course, none of us minded that he was the popular one. In the end, all that mattered that the world was safe from Egghead.

After sitting in bed trying to comprehend the fact that I was now awake, I slid my legs off of the edge of the bed and made a first attempt to get up on my feet. Of course, I was still half asleep, so I stumbled back to sitting on the edge of the bed again. Now determined to get up on my feet, I put all my force into a rocking motion. With that momentum, I was able to get up on my feet.

I made my way over to my white antique vanity set, sitting down on the little padded stool and looking into the mirror. What I saw in the mirror made me jump. My pink quills were in what appeared to be a state of fashion denial. They were all tangled and twisted, and my fur was ruffled up from all the tossing and turning I did in my sleep. It was time to get to work.

First I grabbed my quill brush, and got to work on the birds nest I called my quills. At first, each stroke with the brush hurt since it was so tangled up there. Once all the tangles and mats were out though, the brush strokes became soothing and calming to me. After I was done brushing my quills, I then grabbed a brush made with fine hairs. I used this as my fur brush, since it was soft, but able to flatten down my fur.

First I smoothed out my shoulders and arms. Then I smoothed out my legs, making them silky smooth and shiny again. Usually I ignored the areas that clothes would be covering, but today I felt like treating myself to a full body brush. Once I was done, I felt like a new hedgehog. I saw some makeup on my on the top of my vanity that Rouge had bought for me. For a moment I considered it, but makeup was still a rather new concept to me.

I never really needed makeup, since my complexion has always been clean and soft. I didn't want to cover up my natural look. However, I decided to use just a little bit. I took some mascara and applied some to my eyelashes. That was all I needed, really.

After getting myself cleaned up, I finally picked out some clothes to wear for the day. It was pretty warm out, so I decided to go for my cream colored tank top along with some jean shorts and sneakers that matched my top. Then for the finishing touch, I pulled my chest length pink quills back into a ponytail. I was now ready for the day.

I decided to start my day by heading over to the smoothie shop. It was a Saturday, and that was my routine on Saturday mornings. Rouge and I always had morning smoothies at the end of the week. I jogged over to the smoothie shop that was ten blocks away from my house, observing the world around me as I did.

It was a nice and warm spring morning. Birds were chirping and the streets were still quiet for the most part. I took a deep breath through my nose, taking in the scents of spring. It had rained the night before, so the air still smelled of rain and dew was still lingering on the grass along the sidewalks.

As I jogged, I passed by all of my friends houses. We all lived in the same neighborhood, "Hero's Village". It was the city's way of showing us how much they appreciated our services to the world. The made a neighborhood just for us! And it was really quite lovely. Cherry trees lined the cobblestone streets, and each house was designed specifically to our own personal likings.

After my nice soothing jog to the smoothie shop in our neighborhood, I took a moment to catch my breath at the door before entering. Just like clockwork, Rouge was inside waiting for me. She had her smoothie and also mine. We always got the same thing, so it wasn't hard for her to figure out what I wanted.

"Amy! Over here hun!" she called to me as she waved for me to come and sit. I waved back at her with a smile before walking over and sitting down across from her. I took my smoothie that she ordered for me and began sipping from the straw. Strawberry Ras with whip cream. My favorite!

"Hi Rouge. Sorry I'm late. My quills were just a mess this morning."

"Oh don't even apologise. I'd be more mad if you came looking like a mess!"

I laughed at her response. She wasn't joking though. Rouge really would throw a fit if I came looking like I'd just wrestled a bear.

"Yeah I know. I had a strange dream last night though. It made me toss and turn a lot I guess," I explained, continuing to sip on my smoothie.

"A weird dream huh?" Rouge looked me up and down, as if trying to read me. "It wasn't about Sonic, was it?"

I rolled my eyes at this. I could see why she'd think that, but I gave up chasing Sonic years ago. The way I see it now, life is too short to always follow someone else instead of making your own path.

"No, it wasn't about Sonic. It was actually about… Shadow?"

This made Rouge's ears perk towards me in interest. She rose a brow at me and had a confused look. I don't blame her. It confused me too.

"Shadow, huh? What was the dream about?" she prodded at me.

I set my smoothie down, and held my hands together in my lap as I proceeded to explain.

"Um, well. It's kind of fuzzy to be perfectly honest, but I remember that I had a Chaos Emerald. Then Shadow was there, and… he was spouting commands at me. Almost as if he was instructing me on what to do with it."

Rouge was now listening to me intently, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. She then smiled and said, "Oh really? So he was teaching you how to use it?"

"Yeah… it was weird. I mean I know how a Chaos Emerald works. So it was odd to me."

Rouge nodded her head but raised a brow at me with a smug look. "Well have you ever used one before?"

"Well. No. But that doesn't mean I don't know how to use one! I've seen Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Knuckles use them for Chaos Control!"

Rouge snorted a bit and then let out a small little cackle of a laugh. "Oh Amy! Observing and actually doing are two different things!"

I blushed a bit in embarrassment at that. Of course she's right. I know the elements of using one, but if I was actually handed one and told to use a Chaos Control, I'd probably have no idea where to even begin. After Rouge's laughter finally died down she let out a deep sigh and looked to me curiously.

"You're psychic, right?" she asked. I was a little shaken by that comment. Nobody's brought up my spiritual abilities to me in a long time. I'd almost forgotten about them myself to be perfectly honest.

"Y-yes… but what does that have to do with anything?"

She took a moment to finish off her smoothie before setting it off to the side and continuing her thought.

"Well, maybe this is a sign for you to learn how to use a Chaos Emerald. I mean, you're 19 now! You should at least know how, right?"

Rouge made a very valid point here. Maybe it was a sign that something crazy was going to happen. Without knowledge of how to use an emerald this time, I wouldn't be much help.

"You know Rouge, I think you're right. There's only two things wrong with this though."

"Oh? And what's that?"

I lifted my hand up and held out one finger, "One. Where am I going to get a Chaos Emerald?" I then lifted up a second finger, " Two. Who's going to teach me. Sonic can't sit still to do a lesson, Knuckles is busy guarding the Master Emerald, and Shadow… well I don't think he'd be interested in teaching me."

Rouge rose a brow to me and tapped her finger on the table. "Is that what you actually think? Or are you just chicken to ask?"

I let out a small groan, dropping my head on the table, causing a loud thump and the table to shake. Rouge quickly grabbed my smoothie before it toppled over onto my head and set it next to her empty one.

"What if I asked him for you? I could probably convince him to do it," she chuckled as she patted my head. I shot my head up and held my hands out in front of me.

"No! I mean! I don't know! I just-" I sighed and hung my head a bit, "What if he sees me mess up and laughs at me."

"Amy, this is Shadow we're talking about. Shadow doesn't laugh. He'd probably just…" she looked up in thought and chuckled, "Well he'd probably just glare in disappointment."

I flashed a glare up at her and growled, "Rouge you're not helping right now."

"Alright I'm sorry," she rolled her eyes and smiled at me, " But I wouldn't be too quick to make conclusions about Shadow, Amy. He can be surprising."

I gave myself a minute to consider what Rouge was saying. Besides, what if this dream didn't actually mean anything? What if it was just a strange dream and that's all it was? Then again, having chaos manipulation under my belt would definitely make me a better asset to the team. Sometimes my piko hammer just isn't enough.

Finally I took a deep breath and let it out in a long exhale before lifting my eyes to Rouge again and nodding, "Ok. Go ahead and ask him for me if you want."

Rouge's wings did a small little flap as her eyes lit up and she quickly pulled out her phone and started typing away on the touch screen keypad. She was typing for a minute before she finally set the phone down and had a proud expression on her face.

"Done and sent! Now we just wait for a response!"

We stayed in the smoothie shop for a little longer, talking about other things in our life while we waited for a response. Rouge told me about how hers and Knuckles relationship was going. Nobody was surprised they ended up together. They were always flirting way back when.

I told her about my week, as boring as it was. Since it's been pretty quiet from eggman lately, I mostly spent my days either reading, gardening, or going for jogs in the morning and before dark. It was pretty run of the mill. I wish that I'd had more to tell her though. She always had wonderful stories about a date that she'd been on with Knuckles, or a country she visited due to a mission from G.U.N. She had an awesome life. I had to admit, I was really jealous.

As Rouge was telling me about her mission in Yurashia, her phone finally buzzed from an incoming text. I looked down at her phone and felt my body get hot from nervousness. Was it Shadow? What was he going to say? Rouge grabbed her phone and opened the message, reading it out loud to me.

"Ok, he said, 'Normally I would say no because I have much more important things to do than teach little pink fangirls how to use one of the most powerful gems in the universe. That being said though, Eggman's been quiet and I have nothing better to do nowadays. Tell her I'll do one lesson, and one lesson only. That should be enough to get her started. She can meet me at Emerald Park tonight and I'll bring my emerald with me. 8:00 pm sharp. And she better not be late.'"

After she finished reading the message, Rouge glanced up at me and had a questioning look in her eyes.

"So. You gonna go?" she pried. I began to fidget, feeling slightly uncomfortable, but also a little relieved. I was glad he agreed to do it, but also nervous because he didn't sound too thrilled about helping me. Not that I was expecting an excited response from him, but still. I nodded and smiled up at Rouge, trying to not show my worry.

"Y-yeah. He was nice enough to agree, so I'm gonna go. Besides, this is what I wanted anyways, right?"

Rouge seemed skeptical for a moment, but soon shrugged it off and lifted herself up onto her feet.

"I suppose so. Well, anywho, I gotta get going. I've got some big plans today. Have a great day, Amy," she said as she started to make her way to the front door of the shop. She then looked over her shoulder to me before she left and smiled smugly, "Don't worry about tonight, Amy. You're gonna be great." She then left the shop and took off flying away to wherever she was going.

I stayed in my seat for a little while longer, processing what had happened. I had a lesson with Shadow tonight over Chaos Emeralds. This was so weird. When was the last time I even spent any time with Shadow alone? Space Colony is the last I can remember quite frankly… This was going to be weird. I grabbed my empty plastic smoothie cup and as I was leaving the store, I threw it into the trash.

I stopped as I exited the shop, and stared up at the now bright blue sunny day. It was peaceful and quiet. A perfect day. What have I gotten myself into.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I went about my day like normal, despite being nervous about this evening. I went home after smoothies with Rouge, read another few chapters in the book I'd been reading, ate some lunch, and checked on my garden. I also did a little picking up around the house, since after all of those other things I had time to spare.

I watered all of the flowers, but decided to refrain from picking weeds until tomorrow. I didn't want to show up to my lesson covered in dirt. Once I was done with that, the sun was starting to set and it was almost time for me to start heading to Emerald Park.

I went inside to grab my backpack, and I put some water bottles, an apple, and items to make a sandwich with. This was going to be my only lesson, so who knew how long I would be there. Once I was packed and ready to go, I slung my bag onto my back and I headed out the door to go and meet Shadow.

As I was walking along the sidewalk for the second time today, this time I saw Tail's garage door open. He was inside doing some work on the Tornado. When is he not? I looked at my phone to catch the hour. I still have some free time. I headed over to talk to Tails, setting my backpack down at the entrance to the garage.

"Hey Tails!" I smiled at him as I waved. He was working on one of the wings of the plane, screwing some new metal onto it. His head whipped up at my voice and he looked over to see me standing at the entrance to the garage.

"Oh! Hey Amy! I wasn't expecting to see you here!" He laughed and hovered off of the plane wing, landing to stand in front of me. He was much taller than me now. My head only came to his chin! He really had grown up so much.

"Yeah, sorry I came unannounced. I was just on my way to Emerald Park and I saw you working on the Tornado. So... I hope it's not a bad time or anything."

Tails simply pfted and waved off my worries.

"Ah don't worry about it. You know I don't mind," he reassured. He then looked down at me questioningly and scratched his chin, "Say Amy. It's getting pretty late. What are you going to Emerald Park for?"

I could feel my fur begin to rise at his curiosity. Why was I so nervous all of a sudden? It's just a lesson on Chaos Emeralds.

"Um I- well am I not allowed to go there after dark?" I tried to switch the question around back on him.

"No? The parks open 24/7. It's just that... usually you're home by now. You know?"

I drooped my ears a bit and sighed, kicking a little pebble that had some how made its way into Tails workshop.

"Am I really that predictable now?" I muttered under my breath. Tails chuckled a bit and patted my shoulder.

"Take it with a grain of salt Amy, but you've always been kind of predictable. I mean we could always assume you were chasing Sonic around. That was your routine back then. And now that you don't chase Sonic around anymore, you have a new routine that you follow," he smiled softly down at me, "There's nothing wrong with status quo. I mean, I have a lot of routines and I'm cool right?"

I could help but snicker at that comment. Even after all these years, Tails was still a bit of a nerd; but he was a nerd that we all loved and appreciated. So I had to agree with his statement.

"Yeah, I guess you're right Tails," I smiled sheepishly, feeling kind of silly for the way I was acting. I took a quick glance at my phone to check the time. 7:50 pm.

"Oh shit! I'm going to be late! I gotta go!" I shouted as a quickly ran over to where I left my backpack. I quickly strapped it on and sprinted away leaving Tail's as quickly as possible. As I was running away, Tail shouted a very confused farewell but quickly went back to his work.

I had never run so fast in my life. My feet were moving so quickly I'm almost certain that you couldn't see them anymore. I was starting to panic, which wasn't helping me breathe while running. All I could think about was what Shadow would do to me if I was late. I didn't even want to think about it.

After running, practically, for my life, I finally made it to Emerald Park. I checked my phone, breathing so heavy it came out as wheezes. 8:00 pm. Right on time.

"Looks like you just made it."

I jumped a bit when I heard a familiar voice. It sounded gruff and husky. I looked up and I saw exactly who I was expecting. Shadow. And he did not look happy.

"I'm sorry Shadow," I apologized through my wheezing, "I just got distracted and I had to rush over here."

He looked off the other direction and huffed at me.

"You just can't stay focused can you Rose. That little brain of yours just wanders off wherever it pleases doesn't it." I was a little pissed by that statement. Who does he think he is? But before I could respond he cut off my thoughts by continuing, " You're going to need to stay focused if you want this lesson to go well. Got it? No wandering off into Sonic Wonderland."

I growled, my anger spiking even more, "I don't know if you got the memo Shadow, but I don't chase him around anymore. Those days are behind me."

He rolled his eyes and began walking into the park through the open gate entrance. I decided not to say anything else. I had a feeling that anything I said would be retaliated with smart assery and rudeness. After a little while of searching, Shadow found a place in the park that was surrounded by trees and was sort of private.

"This place should work. We wouldn't want to bring any unwanted attention to ourselves," he explained as he took his place in the center of the area. I followed after him, standing across from him.

"Alright," I said quietly, "Now. Teach me."

He didn't say anything at first. He simply reached back into his quills, pulling out a green Chaos Emerald.

"Here. Take this. But be careful with it."

I scoffed and took it out of his hands and held it delicately in my own. It was really quite beautiful. I'd seen them before and even held them before, but I could never get over their beauty. It was no wonder Rouge was obsessed with them.

"Okay. I've got it. Now what," I asked as I continued to stare at it.

"I want you to imagine yourself standing over by that tree," he explained as he pointed over to a pine tree that was at the edge of the clearing, "Really focus. One wandering thought could send you somewhere halfway across the world. This is really important."

I nodded in understanding, and then I looked at the tree, trying to get a good image of it. I studied every branch, all the details on the trunk, soaking in as much information about it as I could. Once I was confident with my mental image of it, I shut my eyes tight and spouted the words "Chaos Control".

Suddenly I felt a flash of heat run through my body and it felt like my very essence was being sucked out of me. But it only lasted a split second before I opened my eyes and I was across the clearing, standing next to the tree Shadow had told me to teleport to.

At first I was shaken, not sure how to react. I did it... I actually did it! I wanted to started jumping and dancing in excitement, I was so proud of myself. But I refrained from doing so, being Shadow was watching and all. Shadow then called over to me, "Now come back to me using Chaos Control again."

I quickly nodded and closed my eyes, really focusing hard on Shadow. I said the chant again, and after the same uncomfortable feeling from before happened, I was standing in front of him once again. I squealed in thrill, so excited that I was able to do it. I was expecting to have so much trouble with it, but it really wasn't so hard after all.

Shadow stared down at me with a pretty neutral expression. But to me, that was a good sign. It means I hadn't made a fool of myself. Not yet anyways. He then said, "Don't get to excited. Teleportation is the easy part. I just needed to see where we need to work from."

I could feel my ego from my accomplishment slowly oozing out of me after hearing that. I slumped a little bit and could only muster the simple word, "Oh."

"Now that I know how quickly you can learn, I'm going to start you off with time manipulation. Just like teleportation, its not too difficult to conjure, but once again-" I knew exactly what he was going to say so I finished his sentence for him.

"One wandering thought could send me somewhere else. I know."

Shadow sneered, obviously not happy I interrupted him, but he took a deep inhale and nodded in agreement.

"Correct. I'm going to have you freeze time just for a moment. You have to imagine time frozen, and REALLY focus on that concept. For now you should keep saying 'Chaos Control', but with practice you won't have to say it to get the Chaos Emerald to do what you want."

I took a shaky breath, almost not prepared for this one. Time was tricky. Anybody with half a brain knows that. But if Shadow thought I could do it, then I had to believe I could too. I really set my mind to focusing on time being frozen. I had to meditate for a while before I felt comfortable saying something.

As I said the words "Chaos Control", I had one. One very, stupidly, dangerous thought.

What would happen if I didn't do this right?

I immediately recognized my mistake and I began to panic. But it was too late, the emerald began to glow and I could feel the burning sensation from before taking over my body. With the short amount of time there that I had left, I looked up at Shadow, terror in my eyes. And I knew he could see it, because his expression switched to worry. Before he or I could say anything though, I was sucked away.

I couldn't see Shadow anymore, or anything for that matter. I felt hot and cold at the same time. I had a raging head ache, as if my skull was being crushed. All I could do was close my eyes and scream as events unfolded.

Suddenly, everything stopped for only a moment. My migraine crumbled and the heat went away, but it was suddenly replaced with a frigid cold sensation. I heard raging wind and felt a stinging sensation, like shards of glass hitting my body.

I built up the courage to open my eyes, and what I saw was terrifying.

Before me, was what looked like a frozen waste land. Towers of ice and snow were hovering over me, and gusts of snow and wind were hitting my body as I stood there. That explained the stinging sensation I was feeling. I was not prepared for anything like this. Here I was wearing spring attire in a winter wonderland.

Where am I?

I knew that sitting there out in the open wasn't the smartest idea. I would freeze to death if I just stayed in place like an idiot. I had to find cover, and fast. Not giving myself time to think I quickly began trudging through the snow. Moving fast took up lots of energy, since the snow was practically up to my knees. But I had to keep moving until I found some place safe from the cold.

After what seemed like an eternity, I saw a cave just burrowing into the ground. It was almost hidden by the snow, but a light from inside caught my interest. It's a fire! Maybe they can help me!

"Hello?! Is anybody over there! I can see your fire!"

At this point I was trembling from being out in the cold for so long. Every step was agonizing and I could feel my legs shake every time I stepped forward. I made it about half way to the cave before my knees finally gave in and I fell into the snow. I struggled, trying to stand back up on my feet, but it was no good. I just kept falling back into the ground.

"Come on.. Come on!" I shouted to myself. My voice was raspy and weak. The cold had definitely taken its toll on me. The fire and the cave looked close enough that if I could get one good scream out, whoever was inside could hear me. I took a deep, deep breath. And with all my might I screamed, "Help!"

I must have used whatever energy was left in me for that shout, because after that, my head fell. I rested in the snow, hoping my voice had been heard, and I tried to stay conscious. I was quickly fading though. Everything was going blurry, and the world was going dark. This is it... I'm going to die here.

As my sight was leaving me, I saw a dark figure hovering over me, leaning down to pick me up. I couldn't make out who it was, but I blacked out knowing that I had been found.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When my eyes opened again, I saw the ceiling of a cave and orange light dancing against it. I must be inside that cave. Thanks to whoever it was that saved me... I tried to push my upper body up but as I was coming up from the ground, a forceful hand shoved me back down again.

"Rest," I heard a harsh voice say to me. I let out a small "oof" as my back hit the ground again and I tried looking to see who it was that was holding me down. I couldn't see their face, since they had a cloak with a hood on. Probably to protect them from the blizzard outside the cave.

"Wh-who are you?" I asked them. My own voice gave me a headache and I reached up to rub my temples gently to soothe it. The cloaked figure seemed to notice my pain, and they quickly made their way over to the fire. The took a kettle that had been over the flames and poured some sort of liquid into a tin cup for me. They brought it back up to me and they set it on the ground so they could help me sit up.

"I thought you wanted me to rest," I retorted, which was responded to with a sneer.

"You can't drink tea laying down. This will help with your headache."

Once I was sitting up, they made sure I was balanced before they reached over and handed me the tin cup. Of course, I was glad to accept this generous gift. As I was drinking the tea I tried to catch a glimpse of their face through the hood. The darkness of the cave made it hard to tell, but the flames light gave me hints.

They were male. That was obvious from their voice though. I could catch a glimpse of their fur color though. It was dark. Either black or brown. The orange light made it hard to tell.

"Um. Thank you. For saving me that is. I thought I was a gonner for sure..."

He turned his head away from me, as if he didn't want me observing his face.

"Glad I could help," he replied quickly. There was no sincerity in his voice, or at least it didn't sound like it. It almost seemed like he didn't want to talk, which is something I don't understand. This place seemed pretty desolate. He must be pretty lonely. I decided to talk to him anyways.

"What is this place?" I figured that was a good question to start with.

"This is Emerald Park."

I jumped when I heard this, spilling some tea on myself, which burned since it was still hot.

"What?! This is-"

"Yes. It is," he said as he handed my a cloth from inside his pocket for me to clean myself up with. As I was cleaning up the tea from my chest, I continued to prod at him.

"What happened here," I asked.

"Nuclear winter. Eggman tried to force his way into power by threatening to destroy the world with an asteroid. But he lost control of it, and it hit earth anyways. So now... now we're in another ice age because of that idiot," he explained to me as he stared over to the fire, still keeping his face hidden. I was in complete shock. Eggman was actually deadly for once.

"How long ago did that happen?" I pressed. He looked to me again, but the shadows of his hood still wouldn't let me see his face. It was really frustrating.

"That was 200 years ago," he spoke in a solemn manner. I was mortified. Shadow was right. I should have focused harder. Now I'm two hundred years in the future! Maybe more! How could I let this happen. And even worse, I wasn't there to help everybody when this happened. I could have done something. What if there was something I could have done that would have prevented all this?!

As I was getting more and more frustrated with myself, the male interrupted my thoughts by saying, "I didn't think you'd travel this far into the future."

Suddenly, all the thoughts in my head erased when they said this. How did he know I came from the past... I guess it could be obvious since I had no clue what had happened. But that just didn't seem like it was the answer.

"You know I came from the past... How?"

"Because I was there when you came to the future."

Now I had no questions in my mind. I set my cup down on the ground and I quickly reached for the hood. He didn't fight me, knowing that he'd most definitely given away who he was. When I pulled the hood down, I wasn't surprised. Shadow.

"So. It really is you, huh," I had so many things running through my mind at the time, but that was all I could manage to say. He nodded and moved my hand away from his hood.

"Yes. I can't die. Remember?"

Of course I remembered. But it was still shocking all the same. He just happened to be exactly where I needed him to be when I need him to be there. Just like he always is to be honest. It was kind of funny how that always seemed to be the case. A breeze came in from the entrance to the cave, hitting my back and making me shiver.

He must have noticed, because he grabbed a blanket that was sitting next to him and he wrapped it around me to help keep me warm.

"Here. You need to keep warm. It's a miracle you didn't get pneumonia from being out there for so long in that outfit"

I snuggled up into the blanket, cuddling it like my life depended on it, which it pretty much did. Once I started to feel a bit warmer, I peaked up at Shadow and smiled a little.

"I think its kind of funny. That you were almost exactly where I landed... fate is strange."

"It's not fate. I waited for you," he quickly corrected me. My ears perked to this and I was at a loss for words.

"You... waited for me?"

He held his hand up at me, signaling for me to stop talking.

"All of us took turns waiting for you to return. When you go through time, no matter what time you go to, you'll always land in the same place you started. So all of us took shifts staying here, hoping you'd return to a time that wasn't too far into the future. You could have just as easily gone to the past, but we hoped for the best. None of us expected you to go so far. And after all the others passed on, I was the only one left to keep waiting. So I did."

I sat there in mental agony as I listened to his story. All of my friends, wasted their lives away waiting for me to come back. I had to know though, "What happened with all of them while I was gone?"

"You mean before or after the asteroid and nuclear winter? Because all of them died from the asteroid," he questioned me, a hint of smart assery in his voice. I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Before. Obviously."

Shadow sighed and he situated himself to be more comfortable, "Well. Knuckles and Rouge got married and had a daughter. Tails and Cream started dating but the asteroid hit a week before Tails planned to propose, and I continued doing side jobs with G.U.N. That is until the world froze over."

I continued to remain quiet. Who knew who I was waiting to hear about.

"Of course you want to know what happened to Sonic. He watched for you just like the rest of us. He took the longest shifts of us all to be honest. He was really worried about you," he told me, a hint of sympathy in his voice. Although I'd given up chasing him all of these years, it was kind of heart warming to know that he missed me too. I couldn't help but smile to myself.

"If I'd known it took an unwanted journey to the future to get his attention, I would have done it a long time ago," I giggled at my own joke, but Shadow remained unamused. That wasn't surprising thought. I coughed a bit, trying to clear away the awkward silence that had fallen on us suddenly, and I continued, "Well anyways. How do I get back? Should I just used the Chaos Emerald again?"

Shadow rose a brow to me and folded his arms across his chest, "What emerald. You don't have it with you anymore."

I stiffened in panic. I searched all around me, under me, even in my backpack. But he was right. it was gone.

"Trust me Rose. I already searched you for it. If I had found it, I would have taken you back myself. You must have dropped it back where you landed."

"No!" I shouted, highly frustrated with myself, "I'm such an idiot! We have to go back and get it!"

As I was trying to get up, Shadow quickly grabbed my arm, forcing me to stay sitting down.

"Bad idea. You're completely unprepared for this weather. And the suns gone down by now. If you leave now you'll freeze to death for sure."

I huffed and pushed his hand off of my arm, "Okay well then you go get it."

He shook his head no and replied, "I don't know if you noticed, but there's a massive blizzard outside right now. We'll have to wait until tomorrow or when the storm passes. I won't be able to see anything out there with the blizzard and the dark."

It took me a minute to accept his answer, but I finally sighed in defeat and eased my self to lay down on the cave floor, curling up with the blanket.

"I guess I'll try and sleep then. Since I can't do anything else right now."

Shadow watched me quietly for a moment, and I got a little embarrassed so I covered my head with the blanket. Under the cover, I heard movement and footsteps leaving my side. After a moment, I heard them come back again. There was a tap on my shoulder, so I removed the blanket from over my head. I saw Shadow holding a book out to me.

"Here. After you disappeared, Rouge gave this to me to give to you when you reappeared. She said you'd find comfort with this."

I reached out to grab it and inspected the cover, wonder filled my eyes as I realized this was the book I had been reading the day I vanished. I looked over to Shadow and smiled sheepishly, holding the book close to my chest.

"Thank you, Shadow. That was really kind of you."

He hmphed at me, typical, and then left to go sit by the fire again. After he was gone, I opened the book to the page with the bookmark in it. Right where I left off. I sighed with content, and was able to find peace. Sure the world was in an ice age and all my friends were gone. But I still had Shadow and my book.

It was a little bit of what used to be, and it was enough to keep my satisfied. For now that is.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning with the sun shining through the entrance of the cave right on my eyes. Looks like the storms passed. I was already starting to feel a little better from the night before. I was still cold, so I remained cuddled into the blanket, but at least my headache had gone away and I felt well rested.

I decided it was time to get up, so I placed my hands on the ground and pushed myself up. My knees shook a little at first as I rose to my feet, but after a moment of stabilizing myself, I was able to keep my balance. I took a glance around the area, but I couldn't seem to spot Shadow. The fire was still burning a full pile of wood though, so he must not have been gone for too long.

"Perhaps he went to go look for the Chaos Emerald," I mumbled quietly to myself. Even though the blanket was warm, it would still be a bad idea to go after him. So I decided to check out the cave instead.

I walked around the area, observing all the things that Shadow had collected over the years. Lots of non perishable foods. He must have collected them all either before or right after the asteroid hit. Along the cave walls were a couple piles of folded clothes. All of them were cloaks, jackets, heavy pants, and boots.

All of them were male clothing, except for an outfit next to the rest of the clothes. It was feminine. Possibly for me to wear? He did say him and the gang had waited for me. Perhaps after the world froze over, he made a warm outfit for when I landed. I decided to make use of the outfit. After all, it was for me right?

Trying to be quick, in case he came back, I quickly stripped down out of my spring clothes and I started slipping the warm clothes on. First I put on the pants. They were brown with cream-colored fur on the inside. They were very cozy. I left my tank top on to be used as an undershirt for the coat. The coat matched the pants. Brown on the outside, cream-colored and fuzzy on the inside. Finally, I slipped my feet into the boots. It was a complete set, and they were extremely warm.

I let out a sigh of relief once I was bundled up. The blanket kept me warm for the most part, but now I didn't feel totally useless. I was starting to consider going after Shadow now, but as I turned to leave, he was entering the cave. I felt a burst of excitement when I saw him. Oh good! He's back with the emerald!

I ran over to talk to him, an obvious twinkle in my eyes.

"You found the emerald?"

He lowered his hood to show a look of disappointment. He shook his head in response to my question.

"No. I couldn't find it. Someone must have grabbed it before I could get there."

My heart sunk and my ears pinned to my head at the news.

"Someone else? Who else is even out there? I thought you said the asteroid froze everything over?"

He sighed as he made his way over to the fire and slipped off one of his boots; flipping it over and patting the sole of it to get the snow out.

"Not everyone died you know. Some mobians took shelter deep underground to stay shielded from the freeze," he answered. He looked over to me again, and inspected me up and down. "Looks like you found the outfit I made for you."

"Yeah. It's really warm," I replied as I stared down at it, "I didn't know you were a tailor, Shadow. What did you make this out of?"

He rose a brow to me before saying, "I don't think you want to know, Rose."

"Try me."

"Alright," he continued, "You asked for it. I came across a polar bear that had migrated from the arctic. I used its fur for the inside and its skin for the outside."

I stiffened a bit, looking down at the outfit. This coat was alive once?! I'm not sure why I was surprised. Fur has to come from somewhere right? Maybe it was a shock because Shadow was the one who killed the source of the coat.

"At least tell me it didn't suffer when you... you know"

"Killed it?" he finished my sentence for me, "Don't worry, Rose. It was quick and painless. Besides, it was self-defense anyways. Polar bears a pretty aggressive. He attacked me and I made lemons out of lemonade."

Although I was still a little upset by the fact this outfit used to be a live polar bear, there was no use crying over spilled milk. In any case, it was keeping me warm. So at least it died with purpose.

"It must have gotten cold pretty fast if polar bears are migrating south," I commented. Shadow nodded in agreement and made his way over to the storage of food.

"Most of them didn't make the journey, quite frankly," he told me as he was opening up a can of some sort of non perishable food. It looked like canned pears from where I was standing. "Only the strongest survived the freeze."

"I take it a lot of creatures didn't survive, huh," I pressed. He nodded.

"Animals that weren't equipped for cold weather all died in the climate change. Even the animals that are equipped lost many of their species. However, life still goes on. Nature ran its course and evolution is in progress."

"I see," I thought out loud. Although having a history lesson on what I had missed was oh so interesting, I still had the missing emerald on my mind.

"Um, Shadow. Shouldn't we go and look for the Chaos Emerald?" I asked, getting pretty bored with the cave at this point. Shadow was now eating the "pears" that he'd opened up before and he stared at me in silence before he swallowed and spoke.

"You don't want to eat first?" he suggested. He made a good point. I didn't even notice how hungry I was until he brought it up. I sheepishly strolled over to sit next to him on the ground. He handed me a new open can of pears and a fork to eat the with.

"Bon appétit," his voice had sarcasm in it. I looked down at the pears and pinned my ears back, not to thrilled about eating canned pears.

"Do you have anything that's not canned?" I hesitantly asked him. He groaned and rolled his eyes at me.

"Sure. Why don't I just go and grab the lobster and fresh salad from the back," he retorted, "In case you didn't notice, it's an ice age. We don't have fancy food or even a stove to cook food on for that matter. It's not the time to be picky, Rose."

He was right. I guess I was being rather unappreciative. Besides, I was hungry enough that nothing should be too gross for me to eat. They're just canned pears. Pears aren't gross. I suppose the canned part is what set my brain off. I pushed my thoughts about the menu aside and started to eat. I'd never eaten canned pears. They didn't taste as good as fresh ones, but they were sweet and filling. So I didn't complain anymore.

Once we were both done eating, we both set our cans over in the trash pile at the end of the cave. It was now time to go out and search for the emerald. We grabbed some things we might need; blankets, some extra food, and a compass. Neither of us knew where the emerald was, so we didn't know how long we'd be gone.

After we were both ready to go, Shadow put the fire in the cave out, and we left the cave and entered into the frozen wasteland once more. It was still cold to me, even with the coat on, but now it was bearable. I kept my hands in my pockets to keep them warm, since I didn't have any gloves.

"So, where should we even start?" I asked as we trudged along in the snow.

"We'll start where you landed. If I focus I might be able to follow the trail of Chaos Energy."

I nodded in approval to the plan. It didn't seem too far fetched. Shadow was pretty amazing at finding emeralds. I just had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

"So do you really think someone else took it? You said it yourself, nobody would be crazy enough to brave that blizzard last night."

He shrugged his shoulders, "It could have been a creature too, but I doubt it. Why would an animal have any use for it?"

"I guess your right."

We sifted our way through the snow for a while before we finally made it back to the place I appeared into this time. There was no sign that anything had been here. The winds from last night must have blown away the tracks. Maybe it wasn't so crazy someone came for the emerald during the storm anyway. For all they knew, we'd have no way of tracking them down without tracks.

Shadow took a knee so he could inspect the area. He was probably searching for a chaos trail now. He closed his eyes and placed his hand on the snow. He remained in the state for a minute or two before a glowing green trail appeared on the snow and started making its way towards a mountain range off in the distance.

He stood up again and dusted the snow off of his clothes. I was amazed by this ability of his. I had no clue he could even do anything like that. It was pretty impressive.

"Well. We know where it went," he stated, looking to me and waiting for my response. I kept my eyes to the mountains, a little shaken by how far it had gone.

"That's a long ways away..." I spoke softly and a bit disheartened. I was already tired from walking this far. That was way farther away than I had hoped.

"Don't worry about distance. I have a solution," he explained. He brought his fingers to his mouth and blew, creating a screeching loud whistle that echoed off of the ice pillars around us. It was quiet for a minute. I was about to ask what was supposed to happen when I heard something running for us, its feet crunching in the snow as it came rushing.

Suddenly, a giant white creature that resembled a giant weasel burst through a pile of snow. It scared me enough to make me stumble backwards and plop down into the snow. I looked up to get a better look at it and I was amazed.

"Shadow! What is that!" I shouted as I pushed myself back up again.

Shadow walked over to it and started petting its side. Its back was as tall as he was!

"It's a Brimoth. They're in the same family as weasels and ferrets. They lived underground in the Arctic for a long time but after the world got colder, the emerged and migrated south," he explained as he grabbed onto its fur and hoisted himself up onto its back, "This one bonded with me a couple years ago, so now he helps me get to places far away."

I stared in awe, still processing what he had said. It really was quite majestic, and cute. I walked up to it and reached my hand out to pet it. It received my affections warmly, pressing its nose against my side and purring as I ran my hands through its fur. It was super soft.

Shadow held his hand down to me, waiting for me to take it so he could help me up onto its back. I grabbed his hand firmly, and as if I weighed nothing, he lifted me up and set me behind him.

"You might want to hold on by the way," he chuckled, "He can go pretty fast."

Without hesitation, I quickly grabbed onto Shadow, blushing a little as I did so. This was the closest I'd ever been to him. It was awkward but also comforting at the same time. Shadow leaned forward a bit to talk to the brimoth, "Follow the green trail."

The brimoth snorted in return and it began bounding along through the snow and following the trail, just as Shadow told it to. It was a pretty bumpy ride, but Shadow wasn't kidding when he said it was fast. I could see the ice towers zooming by as the brimoth jumped and ran through the snow.

I was riding a brimoth, I was practically clinging to Shadow like there was no tomorrow, and the world was covered in ice and snow. This was definitely not the status quo that Tails had told me about yesterday, and this definitely wasn't my routine that I had gotten used to.

Somehow though, it was fun. In a way. I was almost looking forward to this adventure.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The brimoth took us as far as the base of the mountains before it stopped. It jolted to a halt, causing me to bump my head into Shadow's. He didn't seem phased by it, but I rubbed my head; feeling embarrassed and sore at the same time. At first I was confused as to why it stopped running all of a sudden. Did Shadow tell it to stop?

The answer to my question became pretty clear when I looked around Shadow and at the ground. The green trail ended right where we were standing. How odd. Wasn't this trail supposed to take us too the emerald? Why did it just end right here when there's obviously no trace of it? I decided to raise the point to Shadow.

"Why do you think the trail ended?" I asked him in a hushed tone.

He seemed to be stuck in his own thoughts, because he didn't reply right away. He sat in contemplation, rubbing his chin with his thumb and index finger. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, he finally responded to me.

"It must be underground," he said. He slid off the side of the brimoth and made his way to where the green line ended. He got down on his knees and started digging through the snow. I waited on the creature, worried I'd just get in the way if I tried to help. After he had been digging for a minute or two, he finally stopped when his hands brushed against something hard.

Both our ears perked to the sound. I let my curiosity get the best of me and hopped off the brimoth to go stand by Shadow. When I looked to see what he had found, it appeared to be a wooden trap door.

"Where does that lead?" I pressed, getting down on my knees to be at his level.

"This leads to the underground city," he answered.

I let out a soft "oh" as I recalled what he had told me earlier; about the many mobians that went underground to shield themselves from the freezing climate.

"What would the mobians down there want with the Chaos Emerald?" I pressed at him. He looked over to me from a sideways glance, a hint of irritation in his eyes.

"Isn't it obvious. They're probably collecting the Chaos Emeralds to perform a miracle to unfreeze the earth."

"Well that's a good thing!" I exclaimed, trying to be positive, "Right?"

Shadow huffed and he shook his head, "In the end, its a good thing for this time. It's not for you though."

I cocked my head to the side, unsure of what he meant by that. He saw my confusion and groaned.

"Think about it Rose. They collect all the emeralds, and use the miracle right? What happens after the miracle is performed?"

I thought about it for a moment before saying, "The world gets restored?"

He corrected me by stating, "Yes. But the emeralds also disperse across the universe. Which means-"

"That I'll never be able to get home to my own time because all the Chaos Emeralds are gone!"

Shadow nodded in agreement to what I said and he looked down to the wooden trap door with a grimace.

"We have to go down and get that emerald before they use it and rid your chances of ever getting home."

Now I was starting to get anxious. Not only had the emerald been stolen, but now we had a time limit to get it back! What if we're too late? What if I never get home! Without hesitation, I got down close to the door and started pulling up on it. It was pretty heavy, but when I put all my force into the pull, It slowly came open.

The trap door revealed a long wooden spiral staircase that led down to a small light at the bottom of it. I looked to Shadow and took a deep breath before gesturing with my head for him to follow.

"Let's go get that Chaos Emerald then," I told him with a determined look in my eyes. He stared up at me for a moment, I'm not sure why. Neither of us said a word for that short amount of time. Eventually, he stood up and nodded, gesturing to the stairs with his hands.

"Ladies first," he insisted. I rolled my eyes at that, but I took the first step down onto the staircase. As we both made our way down the stairs, and the light at the bottom got closer and closer. I kept wondering to myself what the underground city was even like. It's been around for 200 years now. Who knows how big it was or how many mobians inhabited it.

As we neared the bottom of the stairs, it turned out that the light at the bottom was an oil lantern hanging from a metal rod. After stepping off the stair case I approached the lantern and observed it. It was so strange seeing something so antique in the future. I guess it made sense though. There probably wasn't any electricity anymore.

After I was done observing the lantern, I turned around to see Shadow walking along a pathway that was lit up by even more lanterns. I quickly followed after him, jogging to catch up. Once I was at his side, I slowed to walk beside him and I held my hands behind my back as I let my eyes wander around.

"Have you been to the city before?" I asked, trying to make conversation. He looked over to me, nodded, then looked ahead again.

"Yes but not in a while. I go down occasionally to get provisions and supplies," he replied. That made enough sense to me. I guess it was kind of silly of me to think he'd had the same supplies for over 200 years. This information made me curious however.

"Are the mobians down here friendly?"

"Yes and no," he stated, "The inhabitants of the city follow the policy of 'Trust until untrustworthy'. If you come to the city and don't cause any trouble, the mobians there won't give you any trouble."

"I see," I responded, "So as long as we don't make it obvious that we're there to get the emerald, then we shouldn't have too many problems right?"

He nodded and hmphed in reply, "Exactly. So leave the talking to me. Got it?"

I pretended to zip my lips closed and smiled up at him. He rolled his eyes, but a managed to get a tiny smile out of him. We finally made it to the end of the pathway and stopped at two giant doors. There were guards at the front wearing black uniforms and they had shot guns slung on their backs.

They prepared to reach for their guns and one of them asked us, "State your business here."

Shadow quickly retaliated with, "We're here to buy food and supplies."

The guards looked at each other, then back at us. The other guard then proceeded to say, "The city is closed to outsiders due to certain circumstances."

"I'm not an outsider," Shadow explained, "You know me. I've been here many times and have caused no trouble."

"We know you're not an outsider, Shadow," one of them said. The other pointed to me and had a grimace on his face, "But she is. We've never seen her before."

I stiffened a bit. What were we going to do if I couldn't get in there? Even if Shadow went in alone and retrieved the emerald, whose to say that he would be able to get back out to me? Sure, he could use Chaos Control to teleport, but someone could just as easily find out what he's up to. There's an entire city in there. All of them against him without a Chaos Emerald? My spiraling thoughts were interrupted by Shadow's voice.

"Do you honestly think, after knowing me and my record for so long, I would bring someone here that could potentially bring harm to your city? Do you realize how silly that sounds?"

The two guards looked at each other again, and then turned their backs to us as they discussed in "private" what they should do. I couldn't hear what they were saying. My heart was practically beating out of my chest. Please say yes! Finally they turned back to us and stepped to the side, allowing us to pass.

"You can both enter. But we'll be keeping an eye on that one," one of them said, pointing at me in a challenging manner. I gulped a little, but tried to put on a brave smile, not wanting to come across as suspicious. Shadow walked ahead, of course with me right behind him, and he pushed the gate open and walked right on through.

My eyes went wide at what I saw. The underground city was huge! The streets were lit by the same type of oil lanterns we saw on the pathway earlier. The buildings weren't glorious by any means. Just like everything else we'd come across so far, everything was made from unpainted and unfinished wood. The streets were the exception. They were made of dirt.

On those streets, hundreds of thousands of mobians were walking along going about their daily lives. It was a little difficult trying to keep up with Shadow with all of the other mobians getting in the way. I'm not sure if he had even realized that I was falling behind, because he kept walking along and not slowing down.

I was worried I'd lose him so I did the first thing that came to mind and I reached out and grabbed at his cloak; tugging on it to get his attention. He stopped in place and turned back to me. I saw the realization spread through his eyes that I couldn't keep up through the crowd. He took me by the wrist, pulling my hand off of his cloak, and then held my hand in his before he started walking along again.

My cheeks turned bright red at this gesture. It was obvious the only reason he was doing this was so that he could keep better track of me. However, I could help but keep blushing. I'd never even considered holding hands with him. Now I was. This was such a bizarre past couple days for me.

Eventually, I got used to him holding my hand as he guided me through the crowd. We hadn't spoken a word to each other for over 20 minutes of searching. Eventually we came up to a giant "mansion" that was the only structure in the city made of bricks. Shadow kept staring at the mansion, not saying anything.

I looked around us, making sure nobody was paying attention, and then I whispered to him, "Is that where they're hiding it?"

"Yes." His voice was hushed and straight to the point.

"How do you know?"

"I can sense strong waves of Chaos Energy coming from this building."

I whipped my head back to the mansion, eyes widened with excitement. Yes! We now had the location of the emerald. Obviously they haven't used the miracle yet. For all we know, they haven't collected all the emeralds yet either. There was only one question left that needed to be answered.

"Shadow, how do we get in?"

His ears perked to the sound of the front door to the mansion's knob turning. He quickly moved me to make me stand in front of him and he let go of my hand, placing his own on his hip.

"Act casual," he ordered, "Pretend you're talking to me."

"Shadow I am talking to you."

"You know what I mean."

I rolled my eyes but did as he said. I folded my arms across my chest and started doing what people who are having a casual conversation do. I would nod my head occasionally, giggle a few times, and twisted my finger around one of the quills that had gotten loose from my pony tail.

My back was now facing away from the mansion, so I couldn't see what was going on. All I could see was Shadow and his eyes wandering back and forth between me and the mansion. I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, but Shadow shushed me, putting his finger to his lips. His ears were swiveling back and forth, probably trying to hear what, whoever he was watching, was saying.

After another minute or so, Shadow looked to me without distraction and grabbed my hand again, pulling me along.

"Shadow! Wait hold on where are we going?!"

"Getting you a job."

My eyes flashed and I stumbled a little bit, my surprise making me clumsy.

"What?! I don't understand-"

"The leader of the city is looking for someone to help him with his work. A secretary so to speak. You're gonna apply for the job."

I wasn't quite sure about this plan. I was digging my heels in the ground, trying to make him stop, but he kept dragging me along.

"Shadow," I tried to catch his attention but he was still walking along.

"Shadow!" Still no response.

"Shadow STOP!"

He suddenly came to a halt, and I accidentally bumped into his back. I rubbed my head and pulled my hand out of his.

"Shadow listen. I understand what you're trying to do. But I don't think its gonna work!" I explained. He looked back to me, his eyes showed that he was highly irritated with my outburst, but I continued anyways, "First of all, I'm an outsider. Second of all, even if I did get the job, they'd never let me anywhere near the emerald. The plan isn't going to work."

His challenging glare remained and he inhaled loudly before saying, "I don't expect you to get close to it. I expect you to keep the city's leader distracted while I try and find it."

I stood there quietly, not sure what to say. He rubbed between his eyes as he continued to explain.

"And I know I can get you the job because I personally know someone who works for the leader of the city! Didn't you hear anything I said to the guards? I've built a reputation here. I know people in high places. Was that not obvious?"

I blinked in response. I was blown away by how well thought out this plan actually was. Eventually I manged to nod my head in agreement.

"To be fair, it wasn't super obvious."

He rolled his eyes and groaned, "Well now you know. Now, let's get you that job. Unless you have any more complaints for me."

I quickly shook my head and felt a nervous sweat coming on, "Nope! I trust you... sorry."

He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand again, leading me through the crowd and towards the back entrance of the mansion. Since Shadow said he was acquainted with the leader, perhaps this is where he normally entered into the mansion? We walked up to the back door and Shadow knocked on it quickly.

We waited patiently for a few minutes before a male echidna with brown and white fur answered the door. He looked at Shadow, then me, and the Shadow again. I could feel a slight bit of panic rising in me. Was this the right guy? Suddenly, the echidna smiled over at Shadow and smirked.

"Nice to see you again, old man," he said, his gaze on Shadow. I felt a wave of relief rush through me. Thank Chaos this was the right person. The echidna stepped aside to let us in. Shadow entered first and I followed behind closely. Once we were inside, the echidna closed the door behind us and locked it. Shadow turned to face me and gestured over to the echidna.

"Rose, this is Dust. He's Rouge and Knuckles great, great, great grandson."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Wait. You're related to Knuckles and Rouge?" I managed to get out. I was completely shocked with this information! It made so much sense now that Shadow knew this guy! I was already starting to feel so much better about this plan.

"Sure am!" he confirmed, a smug grin on his lips, "Dust's the name and politics is my game." Shadow rolled his eyes at that, but he smiled a bit. Shadow smiled twice in one day. The world really had changed.

"Dust is the leader, of this city's, second in command," Shadow explained, "I can almost guarantee that he'll get you that secretary job."

Dust looked over to Shadow and had a look of confusion mixed with intrigue on his face.

"I mean I can get you any job you want really, but why would you even want the job," he scratched his head and chuckled nervously, "Spade isn't exactly a fun person to be around. He's really... what's the word for 'an asshole'."

"You just said it, Dust," Shadow retorted with a sneer.

"Oh right," Dust shrugged, "It still remains true though. That's why he's been having such a hard time finding a secretary. Everyone's either scared of him or can't stand him."

I rose a brow in curiosity to what Dust just told me. This raised so many questions in my head.

"If he's such an asshole, then how is he still your leader? There's enough people here to over throw him easily," I questioned. Dust pfted and laughed in response.

"Well yeah we could if we wanted to, but in the end he's never led us astray. We all know he cares about the city, he just... let's his temper get the best of him sometimes."

"I see..." I muttered to myself. It kind of made sense. I guess. I'm just glad I wouldn't have to stay here in the city for too much longer.

Shadow took some time to explain our situation to Dust and why me getting this job was so important. While Shadow was explaining, Dust was watching me the whole time, nodding his head occasionally to let Shadow know everything he was saying was getting through to him. After Shadow was done talking, Dust pointed a finger at me and smirked.

"Ah I see. You're the pink girl that my ancestors and Shadow here have been waiting for," He stated. My cheeks turned pink enough to match my fur color and I nodded in embarrassment.

"Yeah. I guess I left quite a legacy huh?"

"Are you kidding?!" he exclaimed, "You're the girl that traveled through time! I mean, I'm sure it's been done before on purpose but you did it on accident! Imagine what you could do on purpose! I bet you could do anything you set your mind to it!"

Shadow was shaking his head in disagreement and rubbing between his eyes. Obviously, he thought that idea was ridiculous. I, on the other hand, found it quite flattering.

"T-thank you, Dust. I've never thought about it that way," I started fidgeting my feet and I looked down to avoid eye contact, feeling a little embarrassed by the flattery I was receiving. Shadow groaned and nudged Dust with his elbow.

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" he asked with a sense of urgency, "If your leader finds or uses all the emeralds for that miracle, then her chances of getting back to her own time are over."

"Right right," Dust agreed. He started walking down a hallway and signaled for us to follow with his head, "This way. I'll introduce you to Spade, Amy. In the meantime Shadow, you should go try to find the emerald."

I started following after Dust and Shadow nodded before going through a door that led to who knows where. I watched him disappear over my shoulder as I walked behind Dust. I was a little worried for him, but I had to trust he'd be okay without us.

Good luck, Shadow. Please be safe.

Dust led me through the mansion hall ways, up a set of stairs, and into a giant open room; supposedly where the leader spent his days. Sitting in a big wooden "throne", was a black wolverine with pale yellow eyes. His hair was spiky looking and all over the place. It looked oddly, good though. As if every strand was planned out. It seemed to go well with the rest of his look. He was wearing black cargo pants that were held up by a hefty belt, a red tank top that was tucked into his pants, black combat boots, and shiny black armor on one shoulder, chest, shins, and knees.

As we entered the room, he took notice of us approaching and turned his attention to Dust. It looked as if he was about to say something before his eyes fell on me, and the look I received was not friendly.

"Dust. Who is this," he asked, although the words came out more threatening than questioning.

"This is Amy Rose," Dust answered, nudging me forward towards Spade a bit, "She's here to fill the assistant position."

I gulped a little, feeling really nervous now. I managed to force myself to wave at him, but my friendliness was not returned at first.

"You couldn't have found someone from the city to fill the position?" he challenged, glaring over at Dust, "How do we know we can trust her. She could be after- you know what."

I could have sworn my heart jumped into my throat at that moment, because I could feel it pounding in my ears so loudly it almost made me deaf.

"Oh trust me, I know this girl personally. She's trustworthy for sure," Dust said, "And besides, she's the only one that isn't familiar with your anger issues. So she's the only one you'll probably be able to find that would be willing to work with you Spade."

After Dust said this, a switch must have flipped in Spade. He went from threatening and challenging, to curious and bashful.

"You really think that's why nobody wants to take the job?" he asked, sounding a little disheartened. After seeing him act like this, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. I could see what Dust was saying now. He obviously cared about the city, he was just... really bad at showing it. I took a few steps forward and did a little bow to him.

"Sir, I would be honored to take this job and work with you as your assistant," I reassured him, "I'm not scared of a hot head."

It was quiet in the room for a while. I couldn't tell what was happening, since my head was down in my bow. I didn't know whether I should lift my head to see or to keep my head down. Finally, I heard footsteps approach. I felt a finger tap my shoulder, so I lifted myself up to stand straight. It was Spade who tapped me.

"I'll give you a chance. You seem genuine enough. Dust can show you to you're living quarters here in the mansion," he explained. I stiffened a bit, not sure how I felt about that.

"I'm going to be living... here?" I questioned him. He nodded in return.

"You're not from around here. So it's not like you have a house to stay in while you're here. Besides, all my employees live here with me. That's kind of why we have a mansion."

I mouthed the word "oh" and giggled a bit, feeling a little silly for not putting that together.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just not thinking clearly," I replied. I guess my silliness struck a chord with him, because he chuckled along with me. He then gently pushed me along to go towards Dust.

"I trust you'll make her feel comfortable," he told Dust. The echidna nodded and saluted him.

"Can do, Spade. I'll make sure of it," he reassured him before walking towards the exit of the throne room, signaling for me to follow. I quickly took off after him, not wanting to get lost in the mansion. Once we were out of hearing range from Spade, I looked over to Dusk and coughed to get his attention.

"You know, Spade doesn't seem that bad. Maybe if we just explained the situation and-"

"Bad idea," Dust cut me off. He maneuvered to stand in front of me, making me stop in my tracks before continuing, "You're right, Spade isn't so bad. But you need to understand that he will put the city's needs before anyone else's. If he finds out you're going to use the emerald to go back in time, then all he'll see it as, is that the last emerald will be gone and they won't be able to restore Mobius."

"He seems so nice though," I continued to press, "And maybe with me back in the time I belong, you'll never need to restore the earth to begin with!"

Dust snickered and patted my head as if I were a little kid, which for some reason agitated me.

"Amy, I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you being back in your own time is going to change anything," he explained, "I mean, if all your friends couldn't stop the asteroid, then I don't think you being there is going to make a difference."

I moved his hand off of my head and huffed in annoyance, "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" he quickly tried to explain, "It's just, well you know, its an asteroid! I don't even think, even if the entire world joined together, that they could have stopped it you know?"

Although I was a bit on edge from before, I sighed in defeat, knowing that he had a raised a valid point. I mean, even with Chaos Control my friends weren't able to- Wait! That's it!

"Dust! Me being back in my time actually DOES change everything!"

Dust gave me a confused look, scratching his cheek as he did.

"Okay, explain. Cause you just look like you had an epiphany."

"Dust, the reason my friends couldn't stop the asteroid is because the seventh Chaos Emerald was with me!" I explained practically jumping in place, "If I can get back to my own time, and get the emerald back to my friends, then they'll be able to use the emeralds power to destroy the asteroid and save Mobius!"

Dust's eyes suddenly lit up with clarity to the situation and a big smile spread across his face.

"I think you're on to something Amy! Maybe you're right! If Spade knew that info, he might lend you the emerald after all!"

I was nodding my head so fast that it felt like my head was going to fly off my body. I grabbed Dust's hand and tried pulling him back towards the room where Spade was.

"Come on let's go-"

"No! At least, not yet anyways," he explained quickly, "We should wait until it's the right time. Besides, it's getting late, and Spade doesn't think very clearly when he's tired. We should wait until tomorrow. That gives us time to tell Shadow to call off the search and to catch Spade at a good time. Sound like a good plan?"

I looked back to the room where Spade was, a little torn. Ever moment counted, but I also didn't want to risk him saying no. Besides, if everybody was getting ready to go to sleep, then they wouldn't be performing the miracle tonight, right? So I gave in and nodded in agreement.

"Fine. We'll do it your way," I said. I obviously wasn't too happy about waiting. I don't think anybody gave Spade enough credit to be honest. However, Dust knew Spade way better than I did. I just had to believe he was right.

After we made our mutual agreement, Dust led my to my room, he left me to get settled. I was alone for the first time since I'd landed in this time. It felt odd. I decided to get out of my warm clothes. I slipped them off of me and folded them neatly, laying them on a dresser that was next to a window. After that, I was wearing my tank top and my underwear.

"I'm alone in here, so it won't make a difference if I sleep pants-less," I mumbled to myself. I got myself tucked into my bed, curling up with the blankets and nuzzling into the pillow. It really did feel nice to have a pillow again. Sleeping on the ground was not my ideal arrangements.

I hope Dust finds Shadow in time...

That was my final thought before I drifted off to sleep, exhausted from another day in this time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I wasn't sure whether it was morning or night time when I awoke, since sunlight was absent down here, but I did wake up feeling refreshed and well rested. That's all that mattered. I sat up in bed, stretched out my arms as I let out a big yawn. I still had sleepy vision, so everything around me was blurry. So I rubbed at my eyes trying to get the blurriness out of my vision.

After I was done and the blur faded away, I saw none other than Shadow sitting in the corner of my room on a wooden chair.

"Get plenty of beauty sleep?" he snarkily said.

My fur immediately stood on end realizing I wasn't alone in the room. I quickly pulled the blanket over my head and curled up in a ball, like that was going to keep me "safe" from his eyes.

"What are you doing in here?!" I growled, not happy about the invasion of privacy, "If someone catches you in here then they're going to know somethings up!"

"Relax. Everyone's asleep," he reassured me, "It's still only 5 a.m."

It was that early? I woke up before the sun did! I never do that. I guess it's easier to wake up early when you don't have the sun as a reference to the time.

"That still doesn't explain why you're here," I continued to press, "If you don't mind, I was kind of enjoying the peace and quiet of being alone in here."

"Yeah sure whatever," he quickly cut me off, dismissing my request, "I just need to discuss your new... plan."

This pinned my interest, so I removed the blanket from over my head and sat up again. I rose a brow and folded my arms across my chest in a defensive manner.

"Lemme guess. You have an issue with it."

"Yes actually, I do."

I groaned in aggravation. When did Shadow ever NOT have a problem, especially with my ideas.

"I really think we should try talking to him. He doesn't seem all that bad!"

Shadow rubbed between his eyes and let out a long sigh, "Amy do you really want to take that chance? What if he reacts negatively? Have you thought about that?"

To be honest, I hadn't. Spade seemed like he'd understand though. He was so nice yesterday. Would somebody who cares so much about the people he leads be so heartless towards my situation?

"Stealing doesn't seem right, though. We should at least try a less intrusive way first don't you think?"

He was silent for a moment, studying me like I was a weird puzzle. I didn't think what I was saying was so out of the ordinary. He rose from the chair and strolled over to stand next to my bed. I looked up at him, raising a brow in confusion. Why isn't he saying anything?

He sat down on the side of the bed, next to me, and finally continued to say, "I admire your sense of integrity, but we just can't afford to take any risks of not obtaining the emerald. I doubt you would want to stay here in a future where all your friends are dead."

My eyes softened a little as I listened to him explain. I admired how dedicated he was to getting me home, and I didn't want him to have to feel like he failed. However, the whole stealing plan just still didn't sit well with my conscious. I reached my hand towards his, hesitated for a moment, but then took hold.

"I've trusted you with everything since the moment I landed here in this time. You've done a wonderful job of looking out for me. And I really do appreciate how hard you're trying, but I'm asking you to trust me now. I really think I can get through to Spade."

He pinned his ears back, as if he was unsure of whether he could trust me with this. It's understandable in my eyes. He'd lived his entire existence depending on himself, and now I was asking him to depend on me. I'll admit, I was probably asking for the impossible from him.

"Fine."

My ears perked when I heard that one word come from him. I was a bit shocked, not sure how to respond. Did Shadow actually agree with me on something? Was he sick?

"Really?" was all I could manage to say.

"Yes," he quickly replied, "You're right. I know that I've always had my own way of doing things, and it's always worked for me. But my ways don't always necessarily work for others. I think a lot of things would be different if I understood that a long time ago."

I began to notice that his demeanor became more fragile as he spoke. He almost looked... disappointed in himself. A long time ago? What could he possibly be referring to? Was he referring to what happened to me?

"You don't blame yourself for what happened with the emerald back then... do you?"

"Of course not!" he snapped, pulling his hand away from mine. He quickly stood up off the edge of the bed and crossed his arms. Now I knew I hit a sore spot. Before I could respond though, he continued.

"Well, maybe a little bit. I shouldn't have expected so much of you so quickly. I should have been willing to do more lessons instead of cramming everything into one session. Then you would have been able to learn everything at a more reasonable pace and had less chance for mistake."

I noticed that he was clutching his arms tightly, and I was beginning to worry. If he clutched any tighter, he would make himself bleed.

"I was so careless. I didn't care about you're safety at all. Just my own convenience. Now the world is in an Ice Age because the emerald was gone because you were gone! And you were gone because I was too much of a fool to care about what could go wrong! I'm such an idiot."

I couldn't watch him beat himself up anymore. I quickly whisked myself out from under the covers. I had no idea what I was going to do. My body was practically moving on its own at this point. All I could think to do was hold him. So that's what I did. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and just held him in an embrace.

What am I doing?! He's going to kill me!

I could feel him tense up when we made contact. I had two conflicting thoughts at this point in time. The first, was that I had completely screwed up and he was going to react negatively. The second, though, was that this was the best thing to do for him. The silence between us made the room feel stale, so I spoke up.

"You're not an idiot, Shadow. And it certainly wasn't your fault that all of this happened. I'm the one who messed up the procedure. You didn't make me do that."

"But if I only just-"

I quickly cut him off and continued, "Stop it, Shadow. Blaming yourself for my mistakes is unacceptable. It's not your fault. Just trust me on this."

I had my face buried in his chest fur, so I wasn't able to see how he was reacting to what I was saying. The fact he wasn't saying anything had me worried. Was what I was saying actually getting through to him? Or was he just seething down at me. I got my answer when I felt the weight of his arms laying softly around me too.

I felt a wave of relief flow through me, glad I was able to calm him down.

"Rose?"

When I heard my name, I built up the courage to look up from his chest and I stared up at him curiously.

"Yes?"

I saw his eyes look slightly away from mine, and then back to mine before he continued.

"You're not wearing any pants."

An awkward silence filled the room. It took a moment for what he said to register in my head. As I was processing, I felt my face begin to burn with embarrassment. I quickly shoved away from him and let out a shriek of terror. I then covered myself with the blanket and grabbed the pillow from my bed, heaving it at him.

"YOU IDIOT!" I screamed.

The pillow hit him square in the face and he stumbled a bit, losing his balance and falling on his ass to the ground. He slowly pulled the pillow away from his face, revealing a rather irritated expression.

"Geez sorry for telling you. I just thought you would want to know," he retorted.

"JUST GET OUT!"

He rolled his eyes and picked himself up off the floor, heading over to the window in my room. He slid the window open and started to crawl out. Before he disappeared through the window, he looked over to me and said, "You better know what you're doing."

With that, he snuck out, closing the window behind him. I was so flustered and irritated that all I could manage to do was grab onto the remaining pillow on my bed, push my face into it, and scream at the top of my lungs. My scream was muffled by the pillow, so I let it all out in one big belt. After I was done, I felt a little better. I was still mortified I'd forgotten I was sleeping without pants on, but it was over now. No need to cry over spilled milk.

I took a deep breath, gaining my cool again, and I got out of bed officially. I grabbed my warm fuzzy bottoms that Shadow had made for me and slipped them on. I wish I had my whole wardrobe here with me. I hated having to wear the same thing twice. It was warm enough in the mansion for me to skip the coat and just keep the tank top though.

It had to be about time that everyone was getting up now. So I decided to go and talk to Spade about my issue. I wasn't nervous about it before, but now I was. Shadow raised a valid point. I needed to be careful about this. I quickly exited my room and started heading down the hallway to go back to where Spade was yesterday.

I had to admit, I got a little lost here and there and asked directions from other mobians who were just waking up. After many missed turns and backtracking, I finally found my way there. I saw Spade talking to some other mobians that worked at the mansion. I was hoping he would be alone so we could talk. I'm sure I could get him away from the crowd though.

As I approached the group, Spade caught glimpse of me and he turned his head away from the other mobians to look at me and wave.

"Good morning, Amy," he greeted. He turned to the group momentarily, probably excusing himself from the conversation, then made his way to meet me half way, "I didn't take you for an early riser."

I shuffled my feet sheepishly and chuckled quietly under my breath.

"Yeah, I usually wake up pretty early, just not this early most of the time," I explained. He nodded, showing he understood, and then proceeded to say, "Well, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes," I confirmed. I looked around the area, seeing if anyone was paying attention. A few eyes were on us, more so me, so I cleared my throat and whispered, "But... can we talk somewhere a bit more private?"

He looked a bit confused, raising a brow to express it.

"Um, sure."

I could see how my request could come off a bit weird, but I wanted to ask him when he was alone; without the influence of others around him.

"Thank you, follow me," I said as I began to walk out of the room and towards a hallway that appeared empty. Once I was pretty sure we were alone, I took a deep breath to calm the nerves.

"What's this about," he asked. I could sense impatience and confusion in his voice.

"I... know about the emerald you have hidden here," I replied. This information didn't seem to phase him, or maybe it did. I had no idea since he was really good at keeping a poker face.

"Actually, the emerald is why I'm here," I continued, my voice cracking a little under the pressure, "You see, I'm not from this time. I'm actually the reason the last emerald has been missing for so long. And... I need the emerald to get back to my own time."

Spade continued to remain quiet and keep a poker face. He seemed very focused, like he was contemplating different ways to handle the situation. I decided to pry at his thoughts.

"Spade? Is everything okay?"

Suddenly, his eyes flashed, as if he'd come back from another realm. He grabbed my wrist and started pulling me along down the hallway, further away from where all the mobians were congregating. I began to panic, not sure what he was up to. It couldn't have been good though.

"Spade wait! Where are we going!"

He didn't say anything, just continued to pull me along. Eventually, I stopped fighting it and just walked along beside him, letting him lead me along. After rounding a few corners and entering into a room that looked like a broom closet, he finally let go of my wrist. He took a moment to light up a lantern, revealing a look of distrust on his face.

"I'm going to give you a chance to explain why you think I would give up our ONLY hope of restoring the planet just so you can go back to your own time," he sneered. I felt a little weak in the knees, crumbling under the pressure. At least he's giving me a chance to explain, but I had a feeling this wasn't going to end well for me.

"I believe that if I can get back to my own time, I can help prevent the asteroid from ever hitting Mobius and save the world from falling into an Ice Age! My friends weren't able to stop it because the seventh emerald was missing. That was because of me! If I can get it back to my own time, we could probably stop all of this!"

Spade's demeanor became less threatening and more so intrigued. I was trying to figure out what he could possibly be thinking right now, but I was at a loss of ideas. I didn't want to say anymore and possibly ruin his train of thought. It was silent for a little while, but finally he spoke up.

"Can you assure me, that you will be able to stop the Ice Age from happening?"

The smart thing to have said would probably have been yes, but I didn't want to be a liar. Our chances of stopping it would be higher for sure, but there was no way of knowing for sure. I sighed and shook my head.

"I can't promise anything... I can tell you that we'll have a better chance at stopping it if the emerald is back in my time where it belongs, but there's no absolute way to know whether it will work for sure."

He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. I had a bad feeling about what he was going to say next.

"Then I'm sorry, but I can't let you have it," he replied, "I have to do what's best for my people. You're not from this time. So you're not my first priority here. We need to restore the world back to it's former glory. Every day we grow shorter on supplies and food. We can't go on much longer, and if you can't guarantee a brighter future for my people by doing things your way, then I can't allow you to take it."

I felt a sudden wave of defeat flow through me. Shadow and Dust were right. Why did I ever think this would work.

"I understand," I managed to choke out, feeling small tears well up in my eyes, "Then I guess I'll just leave the city then."

I turned to open the door and leave, but a hand quickly grabbed my arm to stop me in my tracks.

"You're not going anywhere," Spade stated. I felt my breath hitch and I tried to pull my arm away, but his grip was too strong.

"What are you doing?!" I demanded to know, trying to break free, "I'll leave the city I won't cause any trouble!"

"You're after the emerald. I'm not letting you go that easy. You'll just try to steal it and I can't let that happen."

"No I won't I promise! Just please let me go!"

He scoffed and clutched my arm tighter, dragging me along as he left the closet and started heading towards a set of stairs at the end of the hall that led down.

"Not a chance. You're going where we can keep an eye on you until AFTER we use the emeralds to restore the world. Once we've done that, then you can leave."

I realized trying to talk him out of this wasn't going to work, so I just kept fighting it. I tugged, pulled, yelled at the top of my lungs. My screaming gained some attention from the staff, but they didn't bother to help, assuming I was just another prisoner that was fighting going to a prison cell.

Spade eventually got fed up with my resistance, so I grabbed hold of my waist and heaved me over his shoulder, carrying me the rest of the way. Of course that didn't stop me from fighting, even though it was futile at this point.

He carried me down the stairs all the way to what looked like an underground prison or dungeon. There weren't very many other mobians in the cells; only one or two here or there. This must be a pretty peaceful city over all. He took me to a cell that was towards the back and he opened the gate and tossed me inside, quickly closing it before I could slip out after him.

I pushed up onto my feet again and quickly ran to the bars, grabbing onto them and staring, pleadingly, at Spade as he locked the cell.

"Please, don't leave me here. If you do this, all the emeralds will scatter and I'll never get home."

He glanced up from locking the cell for a brief moment before looking back down at what he was doing.

"Not my problem."

My hands started to shake and I could feel more tears coming on from how much of a nervous wreck I was.

"Deep down you know this is wrong," I tried to appeal to his better nature, "You may be saving your people, but you're ruining someone else's life to do so! Shouldn't you at least consider another way?!"

"My people come first. They're safety and future is what's important to me, not some stranger I hardly know," he stated, not a hint of sympathy in his voice. He finished locking the door and he put the keys in one of his pockets. As he started to walk away, he stopped, and spoke softly.

"I really do think you mean well, Amy. I hope some day you'll come to accept why I'm doing this, and maybe forgive me for it too."

Without giving me a chance to say anything in return, he walked away, not looking back. I could hear my breath start to shake as I tried as hard as I could not to cry. I was at a loss for words. I really thought he'd understand. I guess I was wrong. I seemed to mess up everything I tried to do. I should have just listened to Shadow. If I'd just let him steal the emerald, I'd probably be home by now.

But no. I had to listen to my stupid morals. I ruined everything; and now I would be stuck here forever. There were probably so many other things I could have done that would be more productive, but all I wanted to do was just sit there and wallow in my mistakes. I backed up to lay against the wall, slid down into a sitting position, and curled up in a tiny ball.

I'm such an idiot.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It had been a while since Spade had brought me down here to the prison cell. It was damp and cold, how I always imagined a prison cell would be. There were other mobians down here too, but they were too far away for me to see or hear very well. It was really boring down here. All I could think to do was use my finger to draw in the dirt on the cell floor.

I drew a couple flowers, hearts, smiley faces, anything that I thought might help to cheer me up. None of it worked though. I stared at one of the smiley faces I drew and sighed, adding a little tear under one of the eyes. How could I have been so stupid. I was right about one thing though, Spade truly does care about the ones he leads. The only problem with my plan was that I'm not one of the mobians he leads.

I continued to sulk about my failed idea for a while, before I heard footsteps coming towards my cell. My ears perked to the sound and I zipped over to the gate of my cell to see who was coming. It was dark down here, so it was hard to tell at first. All I could really see was a lantern light approaching. As the light got closer, the features of who was approaching became clear and I was over joyed at who it was.

Shadow!

"Shadow! Thank Chaos you're here!" I exclaimed, I was so happy to see him. He suddenly reached his hand into the cell and covered my mouth, shushing me.

"You want to get us both caught?" he whispered, but his voice had a sense of urgency in it. I moved his hand off of my mouth and huffed in aggravation. Yes, I was happy to see him, but did he always have to be such a party pooper?

"How did you even get down here?" I asked. I would assume he would have had to get past guards or some sort of staff. As he was looking around for anything to help get me out, he explained.

"It wasn't really that hard. As I've said before, I've built a reputation here. Besides Dust, nobody here knows that we're acquainted. I just told them Spade sent me to ask you some questions."

My eyes lit up with excitement after hearing his explanation. Shadow was amazing! He had a solution for everything. That thought only reminded me of how stupid I felt that my plan didn't work at all. As he continued his search to find anything to help me get out of the cell, I pressed my forehead against the bars as I spoke to him.

"I'm really sorry, Shadow. I should have listened to you. Now I've probably ruined any chances of us getting anywhere near the emeralds," I sulked. Shadow stopped his searching after I said that, and he looked over to me with a silent stare. I hated when he did this. It's like he expected me to read his mind. It only made me even more aggravated.

"Every time something bad happens it's because of me. The asteroid, losing the emerald, getting trapped down here, it's always my fault. If we had just stolen the emerald in the first place, none of this would have happened!"

He continued to stay silent. What was he waiting to hear me say?

"If you want me to say I'm sorry and that I was wrong, then fine. I'm sorry, Shadow. You were right, and I was wrong!"

After I finished, he started approaching me. Once he reached the bars that I was clinging to, he reached between the bars, grabbing onto my top and pulling me in to be as close as we could be with the bars in the way. Our faces were so close I could feel his breath grace my skin. I started to quiver, a little shocked and nervous about what was happening.

I braced myself, waiting for whatever punishment Shadow was about to inflict on me for screwing everything up. However, what he did next, I never saw coming. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. His eyes drooped to close, and he took a deep inhale in and out through his nose.

I was petrified. I had no idea how to react to what was happening in that moment. I didn't even know what was happening. Should I just stay there and let whatever was happening just happen? I decided to just stand there quietly, letting him rest his head against mine. Perhaps this was therapeutic to him. It was helping me feel better too, in all honesty.

We stayed like this for a while, taking comfort in each others touch. For a moment, everything that was going wrong, everything that had failed, suddenly just didn't matter anymore. The silence was finally broken when Shadow slowly released his grip from my shirt and pulled away. I stumbled forward slightly. I had gotten used to leaning into Shadow that him not being there anymore caught me off guard.

Once I steadied myself again, I looked up to him and pinned my ears back against my head.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my voice cracking a little.

He stared down at me. His eyes were soft.

"Nothing. It's just, for some reason, being close to you makes me feel at peace," he replied. He broke eye contact with me, turning his attention to the ground, "I just needed that peace for a moment."

I cocked my head to the side in curiosity. How could that even be possible? I always thought he hated me. He used to always avoid me, and everyone else for that matter. He called me things like "pink fan girl", or "little brat". Now he was telling me that I gave him peace? Was this the future or a parallel universe?

"You always seem to bring out the best in me," he continued, "Even though you might not see it yourself. You do know, that if you hadn't come to me on the ARK that day... I would have watched the world burn. Right?"

My ears perked up and my eyes sparked in interest. Why was he telling me all of this now? Before I could respond, he continued.

"You showed me that even though Maria was gone, there were still things left in this world to fight for. You made me believe again, and gave me hope for a brighter future. And... Amy I've always admired your optimism. You can always somehow find the good in things. You seem to have this sort of gift for seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Everything could be bleak and tumbling around you, but you'd still find a way to keep your hope."

I gripped onto the bars tighter, feeling a pain in my chest. Everything he was saying was supposed to make me feel better, but it was just hurting. Why did it hurt?

"I'm sorry, I guess I let you down then. Because, I don't think I can see a way out of this anymore," I choked on my sorrow as I spoke, feeling my eyes start to water.

Suddenly, I felt him take my hand firmly in his and he squeezed, giving me reassurance through his touch.

"You helped me see a brighter future all those years ago," he spoke softly enough that it could almost be considered a whisper. He brought my hand up to his face, and pushed his lips onto the palm of my hand, "Allow me to pay it forward."

I felt my face burn when I felt his lips on my palm, knowing that my cheeks were probably as pink as my fur. I think I figured out why he was telling me all of this now. He was confessing. I was completely baffled.

"How long have you felt this way," I asked, my voice shaking as I spoke. His eyes raised to meet mine and he chuckled quietly to himself.

"It seems like an eternity by now."

"Well, why didn't you ever say something?" I pressed, even more confused by that answer, "I always thought you hated me! I don't understand."

"You're heart was set on another," he replied, his demeanor seeming to crumble at the thought, "If I told you, I would have been shut down. So, I coped with it in a rather... odd way."

"Well I'll say," I couldn't help but giggle, "Do you call all the girls you like 'little brats'?"

He rolled his eyes and released my hand, "I apologize for my behavior in the past. It was wrong of me. We can talk about all of this later though. Right now, we need to get you out of here."

"Spade took the keys, Shadow. I don't think they'd be silly enough to leave a spare just laying around here," I retaliated, a sinking feeling filling inside of me. Shadow started to observe the bars of my cell; looking them up and down, grabbing onto them and attempting to shake them. When he shook one of the bars though, it seemed loose. When it shifted, some dust started to fall from the ceiling

His ears twitched when he noticed and we both looked to the loose bar. He tried shaking at that one some more. All though it was moving around a bit, it was still pretty stuck in there.

"Amy get as far away from the bars as you can," he instructed me. Without question, I ran over to the wall that was farthest away from the cell gate, and crouched down to protect myself. Shadow backed away from the bars too. Then he got a running start, ramming his shoulder into the loose bar. It moved a lot, but it wasn't quite out yet. So he backed up again, and then rammed into it one more time.

When he did, the bar went flying out of its socket and slammed against the wall a few feet away from me. The loud clang that followed made me jump, and I almost fell backwards. After I gained my balance, I saw Shadow standing inside my cell, holding his shoulder as he rolled the joint around. I quickly got up and ran over to him, inspecting his shoulder.

"Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?"

"I'm fine," he reassured me, "It's just a little sore is all."

I had a feeling he was lying, but there was no time to argue with him about it. All the noise we just made probably caught someone's attention.

"I'm probably preaching to the choir right now but we gotta go," I told him. I grabbed onto his free hand and started leading him along. He seemed to be moving a little slower than usual. It wasn't surprising though, considering he just rammed his body into a metal bar that was stuck into the ground. We didn't have to go far, just far enough so we could hide while he rested his shoulder.

As we wandered through the maze of a prison, I heard more than one set of footsteps coming towards where my prison cell was, so I diverted to the other direction. After walking around for what seemed like forever, I saw a small room that looked like a pantry closet, so I led Shadow towards it.

Once we made it, I had him go in first and then I quickly followed after him, closing the door behind us. It was dark in the room, and I couldn't see anything, including Shadow. I had to go completely off of my sense of hearing and touch to figure out where everything was.

It was pretty snug inside. There was just enough room for us both to sit down on the floor. I could feel my arm pressed up against his as we sat quietly. I thought about finding a lantern and some matches to light up the room, but decided not to. I didn't want to risk the guards seeing the light come from the pantry.

As we sat in the dark, I started feeling around to find Shadow's shoulder. When I heard him seethe in discomfort, I knew I'd found it.

"How bad does it hurt when I put pressure on it?" I asked as I applied a small amount of pressure to his shoulder. He proceeded to seethe again, and he quickly grabbed my hand making me stop.

"It hurts enough," he said through his teeth. I took the hint and took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

"You may have dislocated it," I explained, "I'll have to reset it if you don't want to be completely helpless."

He didn't say anything in return. Since it was dark in the room, I couldn't see what his reaction was, but I assumed he was probably nodding in agreement with what I said. I took a hold of his arm and raised it to be at a 90 degree angle. I felt Shadow tense up. I'm sure this was not the most comfortable thing for him.

"I need you to relax," I instructed, "If you tense up I might not be able to set it right."

After I told him that, I felt him relax as best as he could. Once I felt he was relaxed enough, I started to slowly pull out on his arm. I could hear him groaning as I did, trying not to make too much noise. Suddenly, I felt a pop, and I eased up on the pulling. I then began to gently roll his shoulder for him.

"How does that feel?"

"A little better," he said, "Still really sore but bearable."

Once he confirmed that it wasn't as bad as before, I let go of his arm and placed my hands on my lap as I sat quietly. I wasn't quite sure what to say or do at that time. Should we just remain silent until the coast is clear? Should I say something about what he said a few minutes ago? My head was spinning with what I should do.

As I was sitting there contemplating what to do next, I began to shiver. All the thoughts and emotions I was having was becoming overwhelming for me, and I felt like I was about to explode. As if Shadow could read my mind, I felt him lean closer to me, making us rest against one another.

This managed to help calm the shivering, but the thoughts were still there. I decided to talk, keeping my voice down to a whisper as I did.

"So, just to get all of this straight, all those years you were avoiding all of us, and being rude to the team, especially me, it was just cause... you were trying to cope with your feelings for me?"

I could hear him shifting around in the dark room, and I felt his body move too. He was probably turning to face me, since after he was done moving he took both of my hands in his.

"I know it sounds frivolous, but yes," he answered, "Of course, I've always been rather anti social. So that's not the only reason I behaved that way. For the most part, though, yes."

"Shadow, I wish you would have said something," I told him, a hint of discouragement in my voice, "I mean, I understand why you were scared to, since I was obsessed with Sonic back then. But, I stopped chasing him a long time ago!"

I couldn't help but giggle when I said that, "I mean, I guess for you it really was a long time ago. But, according to my time, though, too."

"I guess I got so used to being cold at you that I didn't even notice your tastes had changed," he explained, "Besides, now that I've actually told you about all of this, do you even feel the same way?"

I wasn't quite sure how to answer. Shadow had always been a mystery to me. He used to keep everything inside and hidden. Now he was suddenly an open book.

"I just need to know, before I answer that. Why are you telling me all of this now? Why wait over 200 years to say something that's so... important?"

I heard him sigh, and he gripped my hands a little tighter, "I can understand the skepticism. To tell you the truth, the day we had that lesson, and you told me you had given up on Sonic, I decided I was going to tell you after the lesson. But, when everything went wrong, I didn't get the chance."

"So then why didn't you say something when I first landed in this time?"

"I didn't want to add more craziness onto the situation, you were pretty frazzled when you landed already."

"So then why didn't-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence. He placed his hands on my back, pulling me in closer to him. I suddenly felt his lips on mine and I went stiff. My fur spiked as I sat there in utter shock and I couldn't find the strength to move. I stayed tense for a moment, but eventually, I eased up. I felt my body completely relax, as if all of my doubts and fears were melting away.

As we kissed, I raised my hands to rest on his shoulders, holding onto him gently. I could feel his hold on me become more firm, as if he didn't want to let go, and the way his lips moved over mine gave me shivers. The good kind of shivers, of course. After what seemed like too short of a time, Shadow pulled away and I could feel his fingers grace my cheek.

"Sorry, I know that was sudden," he apologized, "I just didn't know what else I could say to prove what I'm saying is true."

As he touched my cheek, I felt a small purr muster inside of me, and I nuzzled into his hand. I couldn't help but smile. That was more wonderful than I ever imagined my first kiss to be. I gasped and covered my mouth when I suddenly realized that.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"That... was my first kiss," I whispered in reply.

"Well," Shadow moved his hands to be resting on my arms and his thumbs brushed me softly, "What did you think of it?"

Where should I begin? It was beautiful, amazing, wonderful, shocking, stunning, the list could have gone on forever. Despite all of the things it was to me, there was only one word I thought that described it perfectly.

"It was magical."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

We waited in that small closet for some time, just to be sure we wouldn't be seen by unwanted company when we left. Shadow was holding my hand as we sat next to each other in silence, brushing his thumb along the top of my hand in a soothing motion. I knew he was trying to keep me relaxed and calm during this stressful time, and he was doing a good job of it.  
I was still mildly in shock from our kiss a while ago. I kept touching my lips every now and then as I kept reminiscing on the memory and trying to wrap my head around the fact that it actually happened.  
For the first time since I got here, I wasn't thinking about how I was going to get home, or the time limit that was upon us. All I could think about was where to go from here with him. Of course, I wasn't upset by the information I got from him today. I was quite flattered and I was mostly sure I returned the feelings.  
That's where the problem was for me. I wasn't lying when I told him I had given up chasing after Sonic. However, I would be lying if I said I didn't still have some feelings for him. I don't want to rush into a relationship with Shadow if I wasn't sure it was what I really wanted.  
There was another problem too. Even though he told me he planned to confess the day we did that lesson, there was no guarantee the Shadow back in my time would be like the Shadow in this time. This Shadow seemed more enlightened and willing to open up. I could see me being happy with this Shadow, but what about the one back in my own time? Would he be this way too?  
Maybe I was overthinking things, but this was the time to think about it. I did have much time left in this time, and I should have a clear conscious of what I should do about this when I get back.  
As I continued to think, I finally felt Shadow squeeze my hand and lean back a bit, turning his head so he could whisper in my ear.  
"I think it's safe for us to leave."  
It took me a moment to snap out of my inner thoughts and recognize what he had said. Even though the room was dark and he couldn't see me do it, I nodded in response and started to get up. Shadow did the same, and this time, he took the lead. He cracked the door open and poked his head out, looking both directions to see if the coast was clear. He then led me out to stand in the open. Before we did anything else, he took off his cloak and put if over me, lifting the hood over my head.  
"Keep this on. I have no doubt they'll be looking for you out in the city, so you need to hide your face until we can find someplace more suitable for a longer period of hiding."

I nodded in response. I was too busy thinking about all of the things before to respond verbally. Shadow must have caught onto my silence because after that he stayed silent as well. I felt him tug on my arm and that was my que to start moving. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, since we found the staircase rather quickly.  
We started going up, trying to be as quiet as possible, but as we rounded one of the turns on the stairs, Shadow immediately pushed back against me, hiding behind the corner. It took me by surprise, and I stubbled a little bit. I put a hand on his good shoulder and whispered quietly.  
"What's wrong?"  
"There's guards at the top. They didn't see us… but we need a plan."  
My brain started going into panic mode. It seemed to be doing that a lot these past few days. With the thoughts of earlier and now the panic of what to do buzzing through my head, it was impossible for me to think clearly. Finally, Shadow huffed and he turned his head so that I could see his face.  
"I'll distract them while you sneak past. When you get to the top of the stairs, go right. There'll be a small thin stairway. That will lead you to where we first came in.  
I immediately shook my head and furrowed my brows at him.  
"There's no way we're splitting up."  
"I won't be far behind just trust me okay?"  
"Shadow-"  
"I promise, alright? Just wait for me outside. And stay hidden."  
I could see he wasn't going to take no for an answer so I just had to buck up and be brave. I had to. He'd been through so much for me these past 200 years. I owed him that much. I nodded and braced myself to go stealth mode.  
Shadow quickly whisked around the corner and started heading up the stairs. I heard footsteps, probably the guards coming to him.  
"What are you up to?" one of them growled.  
"What are you talking about," Shadow quickly replied, playing dumb.  
I could hear the sound of guns clicking and my heart stopped.  
"You know the pink girl. Did you let her escape?!"  
"Wait what? She's here? I left her at the market to grab some supplies," he started tapping his foot and hummed in thought, "What's she doing here?"  
I had to give it to Shadow, he was really good at playing dumb. One of the guards growled and glared at Shadow, pointing his gun at him.  
"She's after our Chaos Emeralds, and if we found out you helped her escape-"  
"She's wh- wait okay. Let's all settle down. I'll help you look for her. Maybe I can talk some sense into her."  
It was stale in the hallway for a moment as Shadow stayed at gunpoint and the guards and Shadow held eye contact. Eventually, the guards put their guns down and signaled for Shadow to follow.  
"Alright then, come on."  
Shadow didn't hesitate and quickly followed after them. He kept talking to them, which made it easy for me to tell how far away the were. I didn't know if he did that on purpose or not, but if he did, it was a genius way of signaling me to get going without being too obvious.  
I peaked to check if the coast was clear one last time and then I dashed up the stairs and followed Shadow's directions. First a right, then the narrow stairs, down the stairs, and finally through the door. I was short of breath and I clutched my chest as I tried to calm myself. I couldn't stay here though. Shadow told me to stay hidden. I looked around for anywhere close by that I could hide.  
After a quick scan I found a stack of food crates that were empty next to the building beside the mansion. I dashed for it and hid behind it, restacking some of them so that I was in my own little personal cave of crates. Finally being out of sight, I took a deep breath and sighed. I reached up into my hood and scratched my head.  
Everything was happening so fast I didn't have time to react. I had a while to myself thought so if there was any time to reflect and make life decisions, this was it.  
As I kept thinking about what I wanted, I suddenly took a moment to look at Shadow's cloak that he had loaned to me. It was soft and warm, and it smelled earthy. It was comforting in an odd way. I brought the bottom of the cloak up to snuggle into and I closed my eyes, letting myself relax and calm myself with it.  
It helped me feel not alone, as if Shadow was sitting here with me. That's when I had a moment of realization. True, I still sort of had feelings for Sonic still, but this feeling was different. It was that feeling you get when an old friend comforts you in a time of need. I had never really had that sort of feeling with Sonic. This whole time, was Sonic just an infatuation? I never felt calm around him. I felt excited and pumped with adrenaline, ready to chase him to the ends of the earth, but with Shadow, I felt content and at ease.  
Is this what it's like to truly love someone?  
I blushed and stiffened up. What was I thinking?! Love is a strong word. There was no way I loved Shadow, but my mind didn't dismiss the idea of one day loving him. It was all so strange and new and weird to me. I'd never actually liked someone who liked me in return. It was different, but in a good way.  
Another thought occurred to me as I thought about everything. What if… I stayed here? What if I stayed in this time with Shadow? Would it really be that bad? Would it be selfish of me to not go back and maybe save my friends?  
If the world is going to be restored if I didn't go home, Shadow and I could actually have a life together that doesn't involve hiding underground and trying to survive. We could live a normal life together.  
There's no guarantee the world would be saved if I go back, so should I risk scattering the Chaos Emeralds in the past and the future not having a chance to restore the earth if we fail?  
My friends though. I would miss my friends dearly. I miss them even now. I just couldn't leave them. I had to at least try and save them. It's my fault they didn't have the last Chaos Emerald. They deserve a fighting chance. It wouldn't be right to just forget about them when I have the chance to help.  
After about an hour of me sitting there and pondering life, the door finally opened and Shadow whisked outside. He started scanning around to see if he could spot me, and before he took off to look somewhere else, I psted at him.  
"I'm over here!"  
Shadow looked in my direction and followed my voice, finding his way around the crates and kneeling next to the entrance to get a good look at me.  
"Did anybody see you?"  
"No I don't think so"  
"Good, now come with me."  
I crawled out of my little crate cave and stood beside him, dusting off his cloak once I was up. He grabbed my hand, which seemed natural now, and began leading me along. I wanted to ask where we were going but I decided to trust him and let him do whatever he had planned.  
The streets were becoming less and less crowded. It was probably getting late by now, thought I couldn't tell due to the lack of sunlight. The mobians that lived here though probably have a system of knowing though. The problem with this was that now we didn't have the power of the mob to hide us anymore, so we had to find shelter, and fast.  
Shadow quickly b-lined to the left through a small alley between two houses. There was a little cellar door next to one of the houses and Shadow broke the lock off of it and quickly nudged me to get me to go into the cellar. I stepped carefully down the dirt steps, making sure I didn't fall and hurt myself, and Shadow followed quickly, closing the doors behind us.  
It was dark down there. I couldn't see past my nose, or my nose at all for that matter. Suddenly, I heard a match strike. I saw Shadow with a lit match and he ignited one of the oil lanterns that was sitting on a table.  
The cellar was cozy, or at least as cozy as a cellar could be. He quickly waved out the match flame and tossed it in a little tin trash can.  
"Who's cellar is this?" I asked, my voice a little shaky from my concern.  
"Dust's. I told him everything and he's lending it to us for the night."  
I felt a wave of relief flood over me. At least it belonged to a friend and not a stranger. I decided to look around some more. There was a table with pencils and paper, a small bookshelf with a limited library, and a twin sized mattress with an aged quilt and pillow. Of course there would only be one bed. Way to make things awkward, especially with everything that had happened.  
As if Shadow had read my mind, he spoke softly as he started to get comfortable in the chair from the table.  
"You take the bed, I'll sleep on the ground."  
"Really Shadow, it's not a big deal. I can sleep on the floor-"  
"Just take the bed Amy."  
I couldn't stop myself from puffing my cheeks out in frustration with his stubbornness and I stuck my tongue out at him. Why couldn't he just let me be nice to him. I sat down on the bed took off his cloak, folding it and setting it on the edge.  
I stifled a yawn, and patted my mouth with my hand as I started to tuck myself in. Once I was covered in the blankets, I couldn't help but stare at Shadow. I didn't want him to sleep on the floor, especially since the floor was made of dirt.  
"What if we shared the bed?"  
He rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
"I like you but we're not quite there yet."  
"I'm not saying we sh-" I turned bright red and huffed at him in irritation, "I'm just saying there's room for both of us. Neither of us should have to sleep on the floor."  
He seemed to think about it for a moment before he got up off of the chair and made his way to the bed, laying down next to me but staying on top of the covers.  
"Better?" he said rather quickly. Was he nervous? It's not like I was going to try anything with him. I giggled a little and closed my eyes.  
"Yes. Yes it is," I whispered.  
I was starting to doze off when Shadow's voice kept me awake.  
"When you get back to your time, tell me about what happened while you were here."  
I opened one eye and looked up at him as he continued.  
"Even if you decide that you don't want me, I still want you to tell me. Even though I won't remember that I lived it, I still want to know that it happened."  
I smiled to myself and scooted closer to him so that my head was on his shoulder.  
"I promise I'll tell you everything."  
He reached his hand up to touch my cheek and he stared up at the ceiling.  
"Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

I was awakened by Shadow shaking my shoulder and mumbling my name. I wasn't ready to wake up. I was so tired. I moaned at him and waved my hand in the air, signaling for him to let me sleep longer. He was persistent though.  
"Amy, you have to get up."  
"Ten more minutes, Shadow…"  
"I'll drag you out of this bed if I have to."  
"Then do it."  
After I said that I knew I was going to regret it, but I couldn't back down now. I felt Shadow get up off of the bed and my instinct was to grab onto the ends of the bed and hold on for dear life. I felt his hands on my sides and then suddenly a tug. It was gentle, so I didn't have to cling too hard.  
"No," I mumbled.  
I heard Shadow groan in annoyance and he started to pull harder, to which I gripped harder on the bed. I felt Shadow's hands resituate so he could get a good grip on my sides and then with one big heave, he managed to get me out of bed.  
When I popped off, I went flying straight at him and the contact made him lose his balance and fall on the floor. I fell down as well and my head bumped into his. I pushed off of him and rubbed the sore spot.  
"Ow…"  
"If you had just gotten out of bed this wouldn't have happened."  
"Don't be a smart ass, I'm just exhausted."  
Shadow rolled his eyes and he got himself up onto his feet, dusting himself off. He reached for his cloak that I set on the bed last night and he unfolded it before handing it to me.  
"We're going out?" I choked a little on my words and my hands were shaking a little when I reached for the cloak.  
"Dust gave me a little info last night when I asked him about the cellar. Spade's going to use the emeralds today, so we need to go now."  
I could feel the fur on my arms stand up straight and I frantically began putting on Shadow's cloak. I had motivation to be awake and I was ready to get going within moments. Without thinking I started heading up the dirt stairs but Shadow quickly grabbed my arm and held me in place.  
"We need a plan. If we just go rampaging we could both get caught."  
"Can't you just use your chaos powers or something?'  
He sighed and shook his head. He had that look on his face when he felt that the answer was obvious or something.  
"My Chaos abilities are limited when I don't have an emerald in my possession. I'll run out of energy if I use too much of it; and in case you haven't noticed there are thousands of loyal mobians at Spade's disposal. Even if I used up all my energy and you used your piko hammer, we wouldn't last long."  
His explanation made sense, but it didn't make me happy. What were we going to do to get that emerald? I had no doubt that security was probably tight around the emeralds.  
"Alright then," I took a deep breath through my nose, and let it out slowly as a way to collect myself, "Do you have a plan?"  
"Yes," he let go of my arm, seeing I wasn't going to make a run for it and he folded his arms over his chest, "But you're not going to like it."  
"I'm just about willing to try anything at this point."  
"You're going to turn yourself in."  
I scoffed at him and tapped my feet on the floor as I rolled my eyes.  
"Alright. Now what's really the plan?"  
Shadow didn't say anything. He simply raised his brows at me, signifying he was being serious. My mouth hung ajar and I held a finger up as I tried to process this plan.  
"I thought the idea was not to get caught?!"  
"Either way, we're probably going to be noticed. If you walk into that mansion and turn yourself in, you just might be enough of a distraction for me to grab the emerald you brought to this time."  
"But what if you can't get me out of there? What then?"  
He put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a stern look. I probably should have more faith in him by now but this plan seemed a little crazy to me.  
"If I have a Chaos Emerald I can make it work. You just have to trust me on this. Have I let you down yet?"  
I looked down at my feet and I started shuffling one of them in the dirt, a little embarrassed with myself.  
"Well… no," I mumbled quietly, feeling a little defeated. Shadow had a small smile as he reached behind my neck and pulled the hood of the cloak over to be over my head.  
"Failure is not an option for me. I'll get you home."  
Hearing him say that helped me relax a little about this plan. Shadow seemed to always know what he was doing. I stepped aside so that Shadow could take the lead. When he passed by me, he patted my head, ruffling up my bangs a little bit. I huffed at him and started trying to fix them as I followed after him. I don't know why I did, since my quills would be hidden by the hood anyways. Perhaps it was habit.  
We walked through the town as discreetly as possible, diverting from the main path if we saw guards in the area. We never ran though. Running might have made us more noticable, and in this case acting casual amongst the crowd was our best camouflage.  
After a lot of sharp turns and hiding behind buildings, the mansion was finally in sight. We started to head for the back entrance we used the day before, but Shadow quickly moved me around a corner out of sight.  
"Damn. They have guards here today," he seethed under his breath. I peaked around him so that I could see what was going on. There were two guards at the back entrance. It made sense Spade would order that. They were planning on restoring the world today. They couldn't afford any interruptions.  
"We'll sneak in through the window to your room," he explained to me. I looked at him as if he were crazy. The room I was in was on the third story of the mansion. How the hell were we supposed to get up there?  
Before I could tell Shadow about my concerns, he pulled me along a different path that led us to my bedroom window. I stared up at it to see how high it really was. How were we supposed to get up there?  
Suddenly, I felt me feet whisked out from underneath me. Not knowing what hit me I shut my eyes and braced my head for the fall, but I never fell. I opened my eyes and realized that Shadow was holding me in his arms. Was he planning to carry me up there?  
"What are you doing you can't make that jump or climb with me," I frantically explained. He looked down at me with an unamused expression.  
"Amy."  
"Yeah?"  
"I have rocket boots, remember?"  
I felt my face flush as I finally remembered that his boots had rockets in them. I covered my face to hide the red and I could feel my ears burning with embarrassment. Shadow chuckled and resituated me in his arms to make sure he wouldn't drop me.  
"You're so oblivious. It's cute."  
He used the toes of his shoes to kick his heels, which caused the rockets to turn on. We quickly flew up to the window and he signaled me to pull up on the window to open it, since his hands were full at the moment. I pulled up with all my might and the window slid open. We were in.  
He set me down on the floor and once he floated inside he kicked off the rockets again, landing quietly. He took a moment to quietly think to himself. I was quite curious about what was going through his head right now. Finally, he looked up at me with a determined look.  
"Alright. The plan starts now. Get to the Great Hall and talk to Spade. Keep him distracted as long as you can."  
"And what if they arrest me on sight?" I was a little skeptical of how this would all play out.  
"You're smart. I'm sure you'll think of something," He took his cloak off of me and put it on himself. He'd need it more than I would since he'd be sneaking around. "You have a way of getting people to listen to you."  
I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, but taking everything that had happened between us in the past few days into account, I decided it was fair to assume it was a compliment. I nodded in agreement and gave him a thumbs up.  
"Got it!"  
As he was walking to the door to go snoop, he looked over his shoulder as he spoke.  
"I only need about five minutes. You should be able to keep him off his guard for that long right?"  
"I'll do my best," I said with false confidence. He didn't say anything else to me after that and he snuck out the door and off to go look for the emerald. Now it was time for me to do my part.  
I had to make sure I wasn't seen before I got to the Great Hall. It was hard to focus though, since my heart was practically beating out of my chest. So many things could go wrong with this plan. Part of me thought Shadow was winging it, but I couldn't think of a better one and it was already too late to change my mind.  
It didn't take me too long to sneak to the Great Hall. Fortunately, I didn't have any crossings with security so I got lucky there. Spade probably had guards dispersed across the city looking for Shadow and I. I peaked my head around the door frame to look inside the Great Hall. What I saw sent my stomach to my throat.  
It was just Spade in the room, and he was surrounded by all seven of the Chaos Emeralds. It looked as if he was about to perform the miracle. Shadow wouldn't be able to find the emerald from my time because they were all here! This was bad.  
I had to act quick, but what should I do? My body moved on instinct and I sprinted to him. By the time he heard me coming I was too close and I pounced on him, sending us both rolling across the floor.  
When he lifted his head he was seething at me, and I knew I had made a big mistake. I tried to get up and make a run for the emeralds, but he got a hold of my ankle, making me fall face down onto the ground. I hit my head pretty hard, which caused my vision to go a little blurry.  
I managed to make out Spade crouching down in front of me, and he wiped at his lip which was bleeding. I didn't mean to hurt him, but he didn't know that.  
"If you want that emerald you're going to have to kill me first."  
My vision was starting to settle down again and I rubbed my head as I spoke, my voice a little shaky.  
"I don't want to kill you. And I don't want your city to die. I really don't!"  
He huffed at me and kicked my in my stomach. I coughed on impact and I curled myself up in a fetal position to protect myself from any other possible blows.  
"You think you can come here, attack me behind my back, and make off with the emerald? You're insane if you thought I'd let you get away with it," he was growling as he spoke, his fangs showing through his grimace. He reached down and grabbed me by my shirt, lifting me up onto my feet. He then proceeded to threaten, "I don't make a habit of hitting women but you're getting in the way of me protecting my people, and I simply won't allow it."  
He reached back his hand and balled it into a fist. I knew what would come next, but suddenly I had an idea come to mind.  
"What about my people?!"  
He froze when I said that, and his eyes squinted as he tried to put together what I was saying.  
"Excuse me?"  
"I have people of my own. Back in my time. They died because of my mistake. I want to have the chance to protect them, just like you want to protect your people!"  
His brows furrowed and he pulled his wrist back again to throw a punch, but I continued to plead with him.  
"You would do anything to protect this city. And I would do anything to protect my friends! The only difference between you and me, is I'm offering a chance to save both of our friends!"  
"But my way guarantees the survival of my friends."  
"Aren't all lives worth saving to you, Spade?"  
His eyes widened a bit, and his arm he had pulled back relaxed a little. It was as if something in his mind clicked and he seemed a little disoriented. I could see I struck a chord with him so I kept going.  
"Life is full of chances and risks. The easy way isn't always the best way… And I know it's scary. The unknown is terrifying sometimes; but we have to take chances, or else we'll never know what could have been."  
As I was saying this, Shadow appeared in the doorway to the Great Hall. He looked shaken when he saw the way Spade was grabbing at me, but when he was about to charge, I held out my hand, signaling him to wait.  
"I know you're scared of what could go wrong. I am too. But, I have confidence in my friends. I promise, we can make sure that asteroid never hits this planet. You can grow up in a breathing world. You can have a life that doesn't revolve around survival, but actually living. I know I had my doubts before when we talked last time, but-"  
I took a deep breath and I looked over to Shadow, who seemed on edge at the moment. I smiled over at him and I could feel tears in my eyes as I started to get emotional.  
"They're my family. I love them so much, and they love me just as much as I love them. They've always come through for me and the world. I know that if they have the last emerald and work together, there's nothing they can't do."  
Spade had stayed pretty quiet the whole time. He still had a firm grip on my shirt, but his eyes had hurt in them. Finally, I felt his grip come off of my shirt, and I felt the weight of my body rush to my feet as my heels set on the ground again.  
Shadow quickly dashed over to me, moving me back a little bit and putting himself just barely between me and Spade.  
"So," Shadow said softly, "What do you have to say to that, Spade."  
Spade looked up to Shadow and I, his eyes a little red from holding back tears in his eyes. His ears pinned back against his head and he started breathing heavier.  
"This is wrong… what have I done…"  
He pivoted away from Shadow and I, running over to the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow braced to chase after him but I put my hand on his shoulder and held him back.  
"Wait…"  
Spade stopped next to the emerald from my time, the white one. He picked it up off of the ground and he brushed his fingers over it, as if he were saying goodbye to a dear friend. I knew this was hard for him, but at least he was finally doing the right thing.  
After a while of him reminiscing, he walked back over towards Shadow and I, taking my hand and placing the emerald in it.  
"I may always have my people's best interest at heart, but I've always lacked something that every great leader should have… empathy. I think now is a good time to start practicing that trait."  
I brought the emerald close to my chest and I smiled at Spade softly. I sympathized with him greatly, and I would do everything in my power to make sure his sacrifice wasn't in vain.  
"Thank you," my voice cracked when I spoke.  
"Just… save the world, Amy."


	11. Chapter 11 - Finale

_**[Authors note : This chapter is a little shorter than the others TvT I do apologize for that. But I didn't want to cram extra story into it so a short final chapter is the end product!]**_

After Spade gave Shadow and I our emerald, we decided to leave the city. We headed on our way back to where I first landed. It was the most preferable option because, as Shadow said when I first arrived, when you travel through time, you always land in the same place you left.  
We decided to walk back this time instead of riding that creature from before. We wanted to spend as much time together as possible before I had to leave. It gave me a chance to really get to know Shadow. Of course, I knew him before, but now I knew even more. For instance, I now knew his favorite color was orange, his favorite book was "1984" by George Orwell, and a lot of other little 20 questions facts about himself.  
It was really interesting to get to know him like this. It was fun even. He asked a lot about me too, though he already knew more about me than I knew about him. Apparently, all those times he was around and I thought he wasn't paying attention, he actually was listening to what I had to say. It was a heart-warming thought, really.  
The walk back to my arrival spot went by fast. Just a little too fast. I was already starting to miss him. I shouldn't though. I'd be seeing him again as soon as I got back. However, I was afraid it wouldn't be like this between us ever again. Shadow kneeled down as he inspected the ground, probably trying to trace chaos energy to figure out exactly where I should teleport.  
He drew a small "X" on the ground and stepped aside so that I could stand there. I hesitantly stood on the mark and I stared down at the emerald in my hands, feeling disheartened that this journey was coming to an end.  
"Well then… I guess, this is goodbye."  
I lifted my head to look in his eyes and I smiled sadly at him. My grip on the emerald tightened as I tried to keep myself from throwing myself at him.  
"Yeah. Thank you, Shadow. For everything."  
He put his hands into the pockets of his cloak and took a deep inhale through his nose, letting it out in a soft exhale.  
"For you, Amy? Anything," he chuckled to himself and kicked a little snow with his boot, "You did good in there by the way."  
"Oh. That wasn't anything… I just said what needed to be said."  
He nodded in agreement to my words before he stepped towards me. He put his hands on my cheeks and leaned down, kissing my forehead.  
"Don't forget what you promised me, alright?"  
My eyes fluttered shut and I purred in content. I wanted to soak up these last few moments with this Shadow. My Shadow. I nodded my head to what he said.  
"I promise I won't forget."  
"Good. Also, make sure you go to a time when you weren't there. Otherwise you could create a cluster fuck of a time mess."  
I couldn't help but laugh at what he said.  
"Alright, bossy hog."  
He stepped away from me and signaled with his head that it was time for me to go back. Fortunately, past Shadow's training was still lodged in my brain. I focused really hard on where I wanted to go. I decided to go back to the day after I disappeared. I didn't remember the time I teleported so that was the safest option.  
I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Before I used Chaos Control, though, I looked to Shadow one last time and spoke with confidence.  
"By the way, I made my decision."  
He rose a brow to me curiously, knowing I was referring to our future together.  
"And?" he questioned.  
"I'll tell you when I get back to my time."  
"You're mean."  
I giggled and waved goodbye before I uttered the words, "Chaos Control".

-

When I arrived back in my time, it was in the middle of the night. The moon was high, the stars were out, and I was surrounded by Emerald Park. I was home. Finally. I took a moment to take it all in. I kneeled down on the grass and ran my fingers through it. I missed the grass, so much. I missed everything about my time. I was so happy everything was back to normal.  
I heard someone clear their throat and my head shot up to see who it was. It was Shadow! He was standing there rather awkwardly, not really sure what to say to me. It looked like time hasn't passed at all, as if I was back at my lesson the day I left. I thought I came back to the day after. I guess I still have yet to perfect my time travel abilities after all.  
"How long was I gone?"  
He looked at his G.U.N wrist watch to check.  
"About 4 minutes."  
Good. At least I came back to a time I was already gone. At least my friends didn't have to worry about me.  
"Where exactly did you go anyway?" he rose a brow, curious to find out.  
I looked down at the chaos emerald and smiled to myself. I then handed it back to him. He looked confused as to why I was giving it back.  
"Don't you want to finish the lesson?"  
I shook my head and took his hand. He stiffened a little and looked at me like I was crazy.  
"You wanna go get some coffee or something?"  
He furrowed his brows, but hadn't pulled his hand away from me yet.  
"What happened while you were gone…"  
I giggled and started to pull him along with me.  
"Do I have a story to tell you."

200 YEARS LATER  
The End

It was a bright sunny day out. Flocks of birds flew through the sky, creating a symphony of sweet chirps. Shadow was walking a trail along the mountain tops just outside of the city. Back when she was still alive, they had built a cabin up here together. She loved nature, and he hated crowds. It was the perfect place for the both of them back then, and still is.  
He remembered the day she time jumped, and told him about her adventure. Almost as if it had happened yesterday. She told him about how an asteroid sent by Eggman sent the world into an Ice Age, and how the two of them worked together to her back to her own timeline.  
He also remembered how shocked he was when she told him what happened between them while she was there. That the two of them fell for each other, or rather, she finally returned his feelings for her. At this point, it seemed like it was all just a dream. Them being together was so long ago.  
If he remembered correctly, today was the day that she landed in the future. This day could have been covered in ice and mobians would be living underground barely surviving.  
Because of her though, and her stubbornness to get back to her friends, that day would never come to pass. She saved the world, and the world would never even know it. She never told the rest of her friends about it, and of course, Sonic and Shadow got the credit for saving the world; but that sort of thing was never really important to her.  
All she cared about was that her friends were safe. And that was something Shadow had always admired about her.  
"Hey! Papa! Wait up!"  
Shadow stopped in his tracks and looked behind him, to see a pink male hedgehog with pale yellow eyes racing for him. It was his great grandson, Axel. Him and Amy had a child together. He had to admit, it was painful to have to watch her, and his child pass on without him; but he still had his grandkids and great grandkids to fill his life with the same joy they did.  
"Hey squirt. What are you doing all the way up here?"  
"I-" he took a moment to catch his breath. After all, his little legs ran an awful long way to catch him, "I wanted to walk with you!"  
Shadow smiled and he picked up Axel and set him up on his shoulders.  
"Alright then. Let's go."  
Axel hugged the top of Shadow's head and purred as he relaxed. It was so odd to Shadow to be having a great grandkid. Back before him and Amy get together, he didn't even like kids. And now here he was, with a kid, who happened to be one of his best friends in the world.  
"Hey Papa."  
"Mhm."  
"Can you tell me the story about how my great grandma saved the world again?"  
Shadow sighed to himself. He'd told him that story so many times now. He could never tell it as well as Amy could, but he tried his best when he had to.  
"Well you see, it started when your great grandmother wanted to learn how to use a Chaos Emerald."


End file.
